‘Bros’ Director Nicholas Stoller on Sex, Romance and Working With Billy Eichner on the Groundbreaking Gay Comedy
“Bros” is another R-rated, envelope-pushing look at a man in a articulate of arrested development from Nicholas Stoller. It’s the kind of look at male neurosis, usually the kind of mania the pops up a decade shy of mid-life crisis time, that has been the director’s stock in trade in comedies enjoy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Get Him to the Greek” and “Neighbors.”
But this film has an important twist. It has an entirely LGBTQ cast and centers on two gay men with grave commitment issues — a stretch for Stoller, who is heterosexual. So he turned to Billy Eichner, who he knew from working together on “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” and “Friends From College,” to help him fashion an authentically queer “meet cute.” “Bros,” the culmination of a multi-year writing process that Stoller likens to therapy (“making a movie like this is a
Screenwriter Billy Eichner knew from the beginning that he wanted to make a film about modern, urban gay male life that felt adult, authentic and relatable. “I wanted a movie that showed in a very funny, but realistic, way what happens when two adult gay men who both pride themselves on not needing a relationship fall in love for the first time. Men in general, and especially gay men, pride themselves on being strong and self-reliant. And in terms of the LGBTQ+ world, we’ve all had to be really strong on the outside. We want to be tough, and we don’t want to need anyone else. So, what happens when two men favor that fall for each other?”
The romantic comedy is almost as old as movies themselves and includes everything from vintage classics such as 1934’s It Happened One Night and 1940’s His Girl Friday to modern ones such as When Harry Met Sally, Annie Hall and Moonstruck. But in almost a century of movies, and for all those hundreds of cinematic stories, no major film studio had ever released a romantic comedy about two gay men.
Billy Eichner didn’t think they e
Bros, review of Universal's first gay romantic comedy
In 2022, this precision may be surprising, but it is: Bros is the very first gay romantic comedy to be produced by a major American studio. And for this premiere, Universal is taking the plunge, sending in its ace in the hole, Judd Apatow, the king of Americanslapstick(40 Years a Virgin, Crazy Amy). Apatow called on his companion Nicholas Stoller(Our Worst Neighbors 1 and 2) to direct the film. But the personality who brought all these quality artists together is Billy Eichner, who wrote the screenplay and plays the direct role in a cast that features many actors from the LGBT+ community.
Trailer for Bros:
He has turned Bros into a meta-movie about the place of gays in the film industry. And according to the first trailer (to be discovered below), he was given carte blanche to express whatever was on his mind. The film will be released on October 19, 2022.
Synopsis of Bros:
It's the story of two men whose relationship could, perhaps, potentially, incidentally, turn into a love story. Perh
Bros
Universal Pictures proudly presents the first romantic comedy from a major studio about two gay men maybe, possibly, probably, stumbling towards passion. Maybe. They're both very busy. From the ferocious comic mind of Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street, 2019's The Lion King, Difficult People, Impeachment: American Crime Story) and the hitmaking brilliance of filmmakers Nicholas Stoller (the Neighbors films, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Judd Apatow (The King of Staten Island, Trainwreck, The Giant Sick), comes Bros, a smart, swoony and heartfelt comedy about finding sex, love and romance amidst the madness. Starring Billy Eichner, the first openly gay man to co-write and star in his own major studio film, Bros is directed by Nicholas Stoller from his screenplay with Eichner. The film is produced by Judd Apatow, Stoller and Joshua Church (co-producer Trainwreck, Step Brothers). The film is executive produced by Eichner.