rant · moment 2 of 18
Bros Bombs and How to Market a Gay Movie
from "Bros" | The Tim Dillon Show #318 (ft. Greg Stone) · #318
15 min
Tim and Greg dissect why the gay rom-com Bros flopped at the box office, riffing on how it should have been marketed with more graphic sex, comparing it to Birdcage and Brokeback Mountain, and mocking Billy Eichner's persona from Billy on the Street.
- Tim learns Bros is a gay rom-com that bombed with only 4.8 million opening weekend, despite The Birdcage and Brokeback Mountain succeeding.
- The film centers on a neurotic podcast host and a lawyer who meet on Tinder—a concept Tim finds immediately off-putting.
- Tim argues a movie like this has to be so funny you'd feel comfortable suggesting it to friends without seeming gay yourself.
- You'd need star power or a different hook—Tim imagines awkwardly pitching it as a hilarious film while deflecting about the male nudity.
- The studios spent 30 to 40 million promoting Bros, yet Tim only saw one sign and thought it might be about straight guys pretending to be gay.
- Tim insists the marketing should emphasize the humor and graphic sex content, not lead with 'it's a gay movie.'
- Reading the plot synopsis aloud, Tim notes that if you pay to see this movie, you're announcing you're gay—it's essentially a gay test.
- Billy Eichner, known for his mean-spirited street show where he insults random people, blamed homophobia when the film underperformed.
- Tim announces he plans to see the movie and attempt to masturbate during it as a personal experiment.
- The Birdcage worked because it was genuinely funny with a brilliant script—you could honestly recommend it rather than making excuses.
- Tim's business idea: a theater that reports every movie sold out except the gay one, trapping customers into watching it by default.
- Marketing the graphic sex scenes would actually attract 'Bros' watching ironically, giving them social cover to see it as a bit.
- Good comedies from a decade ago were so funny you could have embedded hardcore sex scenes without ruining them—Tim suggests editing fisting into Tommy Boy.
- The title 'Bros' itself is the problem—it's dumb because no man in a pickup truck wants to tell another man he's going to see a movie called Bros.
BrosEuphoriaBilly EichnerThe BirdcageStep BrothersTwilightBrokeback MountainTommy BoyI Now Pronounce You Chuck and LarryWill FerrellAdam McKayJohn C. ReillyAdam SandlerJessica BielJack HarlowTransformersPhilip Seymour HoffmanKevin James