Billy Eichner To Star In Gay Romantic Comedy ‘Bros’
Billy Eichner, 42-year old comedian and actor, is set to star in, executive produce, and co-write Bros, a gay rom-com movie.
Jude Apatow, producer of hit rom-coms like The Big Sick, is producing Bros with Eichner as executive producer. The film, which was first announced in early 2019, is set to premiere on August 12, 2022. The actor who will portray Eichner’ on-screen love interest has not been announced yet.
“I’M MAKING A MOVIE!!!!” Eichner posted on social media. “Coming to a theatre near you Aug 12, 2022!” “In shocking news, BROS will be the first rom com about gay men ever produced by a major studio, and, apparently, I’m the first openly gay man to ever write and star in their own studio film. Only took 100 years! THANKS HOLLYWOOD!!!”
In shocking news, BROS will be the first rom com about gay men ever produced by a major studio and, apparently, I’m the first openly gay man to ever write and star in their own studio film. Only took 100 years! THANKS HOLLYWOOD!!! 💫 https://t.co/ysrwEz2Mmo
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) March 5, 2021
Eichner, who is openly gay, pointed to how things had changed for him and reflected back to 2006 when his manager, “told me to be less gay because a big agent was coming to my show”.
In 2019, Eichner talked to Variety about what it felt like to be the first out gay man to write and star in a major movie. “I’m honoured that it’s me, but it should’ve been someone else 30 or 40 years ago,” he said. “I hear people talking about diversity and inclusion, but I often see gay people left out of these conversations. The comedy community, which has always been such a straight man’s game, has not been kind to openly gay men, and I still see so much homophobia when it comes to casting.”
Eichner had previously talked about the importance of casting gay actors in movies like Bros. He spoke of Bros in an interview about his upcoming lead role in a Paul Lynde biopic.
“I’m doing this rom-com, about a gay male couple that I wrote and I’m starring in for Universal, that Judd Apatow is producing,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll shoot it next year, but I’m an EP on that and heavily involved in all ways. So I was privy to casting discussions, and I would see when the casting lists were circulating, about which actors to call in for the role. And then, at the beginning, before I raised my voice, for the straight characters in the movie, there were never gay actors on the lists for those roles. I saw it with my own eyes, It’s not a two-way street.”
Billy Eichner rose to fame as the host and writer of Creative Nation: A Live Talk Show, a critically acclaimed stage show in New York. He also played Timon in the 2019 remake of The Lion King.
