Produced by Judd Apatow for Universal, the Bros film is due out in the summer of 2022. It is the first romantic comedy featuring a gay couple to be released under the bosom of a big studio.
In the works for several years, Bros has come to fruition with the announcement by Collider the recruitment of Luke Macfarlane to play one of the two main characters in this romantic comedy. The film’s other star, Billy Eichner, is also its co-writer and executive producer, and has been developing the feature for a long time.
In 2019, it was revealed that the American Horror Story actor had signed a contract with Universal Pictures to write a gay romantic comedy, the first for a studio of this stature. It is also the first time that an openly homosexual man has written and acted in such a feature film.
At the time, Billy Eichner told Variety : “I’m honored that it was me, but it should have been someone else 30 or 40 years ago. I hear people talk about diversity and inclusion, but I often see gays being left out of these conversations.”
And to specify: “The comedy scene, which has always been a straight game, hasn’t been kind to openly gay men, and I still see so much homophobia when it comes to castings.”
A COMPLICATED CASTING
To give him the answer in Bros, the actor naturally chose an openly homosexual man, Luke Macfarlane, seen in particular in the Brothers & Sisters and Killjoys series. If this was the first choice of some since the beginning of the project, others would have preferred to entrust the role to a face more known to the public. But Billy Eichner fought for Macfarlane to be hired.
In July 2020, the star had also told Deadline : “I am the executive producer on the project and I am very involved. So I was aware of the casting discussions, and I saw when the lists were circulating, about the actors to call for such and such a role. There were so many straight actors on all the rosters to play gay characters.”And to continue:
And then, in the beginning, before I raised my voice, for the straight characters in the movie, there were never any gay actors on the rosters for those roles. I saw it with my own eyes. It is not a two-way street.
Before concluding : “I’m trying to change that, and I also think it’s so important for us to be able to tell our own stories, because we have the lived experience, to bring the intellectual nuance of it to the screen.“
Produced by King of Comedy Judd Apatow and directed by Nicholas Stoller (Our Worst Neighbors), who co-wrote the screenplay with Billy Eichner, Bros. is due for release in August 2022 in the United States.
The Difficult People series trailer starring Billy Eichner:
