The Love, Simon Official Trailer is Out

Shill.

The "coming out movie" is pretty well worn territory. See if this one can actually bring something new to it.

When I saw that it was about a teenager in High School I thought "Girl, no" - but it actually looks pretty good.

I don't really need "something new" to be brought to it, R2. Every story is different. Nick Robinson is all the "something new" I need.

It opens in March. From what I can tell, that may be before CMBYN opens wide.

I assume you are were cracking a joke, but for reference "Call Me By Your Name" goes into its wide release January 19th.

[quote]I don't really need "something new" to be brought to it,

That's sad. You should want gay cinema to evolve, not just regurgitate the same stories over and over.

R6, thank you.

And what might it "evolve" into, R7?

R7 wants an allegorical tale about green aliens who want to travel the universe with other green aliens instead of the normal purple aliens. That will be more "evolved."

It looks terrible.

I'm too jaded for this and it looks cringy as fuck but I guess it will mean a lot to a lot of people, so good for everyone involved. I hope it does well.

Call Me By Your Name has such "critical acclaim" and it was such a let down.

The book was not that interesting to begin with... so how good can the movie be. That said, Nick is looking better. He looked dreadful with lanky hair in Everything, Everything.

I love that Nick is back working. He is attractive, but has enough physical flaws that he can convincingly play the Everyman.

Josh Duhamel is the hot daddy!

It’s really a shame that Nick Robinson is keeping his distance from publicizing this film.

Enjoy gay themed films while they last under Disney-Fox.

r17, the premiere is not until mid-March, so I doubt the marketing tour has even begun. I'd look for Nick to eventually be making the rounds. Plus he has uploaded the movie poster and the trailer to his Instagram.

R17 It's such an innocuous teen movie with probably nothing more than a gay kiss or two. Why wouldn't he promote it?

Nick is hung, correct?

R21, if we gather data from his current female conquests...then I have no idea.

Does he have a glass eye or something?

Trailer 2. There's a (near) kiss between Nick and Miles Heizer near the end.

Will this movie be any good? Or will it be terrible yet still important and relevant somehow?

R25 The book was meh to me, so I don't expect much from the movie. But you can appreciate it for what it is... a teen movie with a gay male lead.

LA Premiere was on Thurs 1/18. But the movie actually comes out on March 16th.

Isn’t there usually a 1 week difference? Why so much time, R27?

There's a free screening in LA this coming Wednesday 1/24.

This movie is going to be entirely sexless, isn't it?

R30 It's a teen coming out/romance film, so I think there may only be one or two gay kisses. Also, it's directed by Berlanti, so you know he won't be pushing any envelope.

R26 played by a straight guy.

Looks good. But looks like a Netflix movie.

R32 Comes to think of it... Brandon Flynn, who just came out recently, would have been good for this part. This movie already got Miles Heizer and Katherine Langford from 13 Reasons Why, so it would really be a "Netflix movie"!

I don’t think it’s 100% confirmed that Nick Robinson is straight. He’s only given like 3 public interviews though, so I guess we’ll get confirmation during the press junket for Love, Simon.

It has been confirmed that Nick has a nice bulge and is now obligated to show some peen.

[quote][R30] It's a teen coming out/romance film, so I think there may only be one or two gay kisses.

That's one or two more than I remember on [italic]Silver Spoons[/italic]. Kids today are fucking spoiled when it comes to gay representation.

If Nick Robinson was indeed gay, that would be amazing. He's really gorgeous. We've seen his ass right? I can't remember.

R38 He showed his butt in that indie film, Being Charlie.

Miles and Nick

Doesn't glass-closeted DL fave Joey Pollari appear and play gay in this movie?

R41 IMDb says yes. He plays a character named Lyle.

Song from the movie.

in this age when 12 yo kids are out to anybody and 4 yo kids lead transgender lives... a movie about a teenager having problems to come out????? was this shot in 1988?

Meh... it has Uber frau Jennifer Garner in it so it must suck.

R44 Things are not the same in deplorable fly-over states.

The (Gay) Look

Lots of gifs from the trailers.

Simon's backside...

Q&A with Berlanti and Nick yesterday.

If this movie doesn't have Joey Pollari furiously making out with Nick Robinson, I am NOT on board.

R51 Joey only has a bit part, I think. I don't even recall his character Lyle from the book. Lyle might be a character only added in the script.

I thought Colton Haynes was playing a character named Kevin (not in the book) but it's not listed in IMDb

If toddlers are being transed, this movie is more necessary than ever.

But he is listed on Wikipedia, so who knows

Why hasn't Miles Heizer come out yet? Yes, I know he isn't technically hiding, but still. He's obviously gay, his gayness can be seen from outer space, just like with Garrett Clayton. Yet they're both in the closet! WTF?!

Miles is playing bisexual high schooler Cal in this movie

R57 Nick is cute (surprisingly so, since he usually plays the serious/troubled teen), but Miles is closer to how Simon is described in the book in terms of looks and height.

The film is about to come out. Where are the press junkets?

Disappointing 😩

R59 There's still a month before it comes out.

I can’t help but think about what it would’ve meant to have a mainstream film like this out in the world when I was in high school in the early 90s. Instead, we just had 90210 on tv which wasn’t exactly a beacon. If a film like this had even been attempted, i can assure you it wouldn’t have a bouyant soundtrack and “everyone gets a hug” vibe. It would’ve been fraught and tortured. How far we’ve come.

I saw a screening of it last week. The author of the book was in attendance. I enjoyed the movie overall, as I had the book, but it’s not a masterpiece. It’s light and reassuring, and the main character is handsome, but he doesn’t have much of a personality onscreen and he’s remarkably sexless to be a male 17-year-old.

R62 That's how the book was, cute teen romance with fluff and angst, but without any sex. I am only interested in the movie because Nick is really lively and cute in this role, and I haven't seen him quite like that in any other roles.

I saw a commercial for it this morning, no mention that the kid is gay and coming out...

[quote] and he’s remarkably sexless to be a male 17-year-old.

It was written by a woman to primarily appeal to teen girls. So of course horny, sex obsessed guys become sweet, romantic puppies.

He's not a puppy, he's a high school junior who actually eventually has sex with his secret email buddy once they meet and get to know each other

R66, I can’t remember how far they get in the book, but in the movie there’s no sex.

R66 The book ended soon after they kissed and got together... the sex only happened in your head or some fanfic you read. A sequel is coming out in April, written from Leah's (Simon's bff) POV during their senior year. So Simon and bf will be featured in it, and the sex issue will no doubt come up.

R61 indeed. I'm not really from the 90s (well, a child) but I generally know the progress of gay matter in media and considering that this film even exists is a really nice thing.

What I want is a major scifi or fantasy franchise to hold a widely lauded gay male protagonist, who doesn't have a negatively stereotypical romance (as in neither flaming minstrel show nor overwrought gaygaygay tragedy) - with no subsequent straightwashing - but maybe that's a 2020s thing.

[quote]What I want is a major scifi or fantasy franchise to hold a widely lauded gay male protagonist

Exactly what I want. Gay lead characters in "normal" movies/TV where the plot doesn't revolve around them dealing with the fact they are gay, they just are. There are a few fantasy/sci fi books like that, I liked the Nightrunner series.

[quote] he's a high school junior

Do you remember how often you masturbated when you were in highschool? At that age your hormones are going crazy.

That is actually is one thing CMBYM got right, captured that hard to control your hormones time period that comes with being a teenage boy. Not that we all masturbated with a peach, but you get my point.

R71 Different teens, different strokes...

When the family went to a restaurant an Hour away and left Simon and his bf alone in the house, I think it was pretty clear that they fooled around during that time

[Quote]What I want is a major scifi or fantasy franchise to hold a widely lauded gay male protagonist, who doesn't have a negatively stereotypical romance (as in neither flaming minstrel show nor overwrought gaygaygay tragedy) - with no subsequent straightwashing

Same, but it will never ever happen. Just look at Marvel. They have included several lesbian/bi female characters in their movies tv shows now, yet ZERO gay male characters. They have several shows set in New York, yet no gay man to be seen anywhere. I guess they're terrified of losing their straight bigoted fanboys. They love watching lesbians, but any mention of a gay man and they panic.

[Quote]That is actually is one thing CMBYM got right, captured that hard to control your hormones time period that comes with being a teenage boy. Not that we all masturbated with a peach, but you get my point.

Are you kidding me?! You use that sexless film as an example? LOOOOOL. Didn't the camera pan to the window as they started having sex? So you don't actually get to see anything.

Yes, but the kid did masturbate, and he did sniff Oliver's bathing suit, so you know that his hormones were active

And he did grab Oliver's crotch several times while reposing in the field

The script writers had the freedom to add in a bit more sexual content, if they wanted to, but it seems like they kept to the level of intimacy found in the book, because the target audience of the movie is the same as the book.

R74 There was a gay male character in Agents of SHIELD.

Not that they did much with him beyond a half season or so.

Daily Beast: ‘Love, Simon’ is a gay coming-of-age story so sweeping and emotional—and with such mass appeal—that we almost can’t believe it exists. (But are so happy it does.)

Meh...I hate the media trope "[insert product] you've/we've been waiting for"

R79 He got to be gay in two whole episodes, yay! ZERO gay male characters since then, yet they've had numerous lesbians both in their tv shows and movies.

r61, well stated. I'm pretty much at your timeline point of GenX (high school late '80s). The two gay, coming-of-age films from that era that I recall were both made-for-TV: Consenting Adult ('85) and Doing Time on Maple Drive ('92). Both were relatively dark in many ways, albeit both featuring endings that I would hesitate to call "happy" - more like a sense of decloseted relief. DToMD actually helped me to come out. But gosh, what a different era. "How far we've come," indeed.

I'm looking forward to seeing this, but the best gay coming-of-age film was and always will be BEAUTIFUL THING and that's a fact!!!

So, the song that plays in the first trailer 'Surrender' isn't in the official soundtrack? How come?

I was an extra on this movie. Nick seemed very low key and kept to himself.

R86, do you think he was uncomfortable with the subject matter?

Did he have a gf or anyone come onto set?

Were Miles Heizner and Joey Pollari standoffish too? Did Miles’ photographer bf Matt Sukar come onto set?

Saw a screening of Love, Simon last night at a theater in the Midwest and really liked it. I’m a sap, thought it was a cute coming of age movie and wish something like this was out when I was younger (I’m 39). Would recommend to anyone.

The Love, Simon publicity tour has started. Nick looking cute here in Seattle.

He should have whipped out his dong.

Nick is hung and loves to show it off on the red carpet.

Nice beercan, bruh.

Nick must be like I played gay, too... where's my Oscar nom?

Nick was never this cute when playing straight...

He is cute in R94 but also looks kind of unwell. There and in other recent shots.

He's a chain-smoker. But is he also a drunk?

R95 It's just his chronic eye bags that makes him look "sick". He's very private so who knows if he gets drunk or does drugs... at least until the DUI and/or drug arrest. But I'd like to think he's just a smart introvert.

Grant gushes about his buddy Nick while shilling for his boss, Berlanti.

Well gee Grant, be a little less desperate

[quote] Greg is a brilliant director and I hope I can be in every other movie he makes.

R98 Grant knows he owes all his success to Berlanti... otherwise, he would just be another Glee has-been. I am surprised Grant knows Nick since they have never mentioned each other in any previous context nor worked together on any projects.

Maybe Grant and Nick have had hot man sex.

R100 Grant is engaged... to a woman. But we can fantasize they hooked up once.

Josh Duhamel looks so good in the clip I saw

R102 Josh being the sensitive Dad: "Grindr is Facebook for gay people." LOL In a way, he's right...

This scene was not from the book, and no way would you think Simon's dad would be as hot as Josh from reading the book.

Dorky

... In Seattle

How many hardcore gay sex scenes are in this?

That skip.

Georgia today...

Greg loves his crossovers!

"Kev just wants to see @lovesimonmovie with Moose. Midge is always in the way. #riverdale"

Kevin is the TV Simon.

Nick Robinson, who plays Simon, talks about how the movie became personal for him.

[quote] For Robinson, the movie’s subject matter became a lot more personal at one point — his little brother came out to him during filming.

[quote] “In the story, I was trying to do justice to that. If anything, (his brother coming out) was kind of exciting,” he said. “For me anyway, I had a feeling for many years about it — I was just very proud of him for taking that step. It just made it closer to home for me telling the story. It felt like we were making something that could potentially help people, which is a good feeling.”

Twitter chat going on now at MTV on Twitter.

Sneak preview Saturday evening at a theater near you...!

I'm seeing it Saturday night. I didn't realize it was a preview.

There have been an oddly high number of preview showings for this movie. My area has had at least 3 so far.

So is this guy any relation to Love, Sidney the gay guy from the 80's?

That guy was neutered by NBC

They are hyping this movie like crazy. I hope Simon’s love interest isn’t ‘ diverse ‘.

I guess you queers are saying hello Nick and goodbye Timmy.

* sob *

Spoiler: He's diverse in the book

That’s cool.

Is this the first mainstream gay movie released in theaters since Making Love that wasn’t Oscar bait ?

I hope r119 go 'plays' in traffic.

Went to a preview screening. Most reviews that I’ve seen are accurate. It’s a lovely, hopeful film, if saccharine and a tad cringey. The teen girls in the theater squealed their way to the happy ending. It was money well spent for me.

Where was the screening, and was it crowded?

It was a full theatre in Pittsburgh. People clapped at the end. I sat up front, so I don't know how many audience members were teen girls.

Mine was in Rochester, NY. Several theaters in this area did a single 7PM show, one yesterday and one today. All in advance of the official release next week.

Also...I will compliment Nick and the screenwriters for a decently accurate portrayal of anxiety. The charaacter’s conflict aversion definitely hit home for me at least.

Well, kudos to this movie for what it accomplishes, but it makes the whole "struggle" of the main character kind of eye rolling since he's popular, white, upper middle class, and has supportive parents.

What R128 said.

[quote] it makes the whole "struggle" of the main character kind of eye rolling since he's popular, white, upper middle class, and has supportive parents.

That's true. But the filmmakers appear to be trying to do something else by giving gaylings (a kind) of Ferris Bueller Comes Out.

The film suggests that even in the best case scenario for coming out, this kid is still scared shitless, partly because he has so much love and support, and he fears he has so much to lose. You don't know for sure that your parents are endlessly accepting and that your friends will love you anyway until you take that leap and reveal yourself. And it's a scary leap of faith even in a seemingly privileged situation. So if this best case scenario is fucking frightening and humiliating, image other scenarios.

That's another way of seeing the set up to this film.

Well said, r130

But if people see that even a guy as described at r28 has problems, maybe they'll extend the sympathy they feel for him to other characters that are poor, homeless etc. Lovesimon could be the conduit.

It was a pretty good movie. I’m waiting for Aristotle and Dante to be made into a movie. That would be awesome.

Nick's performance is really surprisingly good in this one going by just the trailer... he was usually dull and uninteresting in his previous roles (usually as some girl's love interest).

Interesting that they got 3 gay actors to play the potential love interest.

There’s a funny scene where Simon Googles “How to dress gay” and a photo of Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper pops up. Were they flattered to be included?

Andy has seen it and cracked up at that moment and loved it. It had been cleared [for use], and Andy wrote to me that he loved the movie and loved that bit. He’s now memorialized in gay cinema. I haven’t discussed it with Anderson, but I hope he sees the movie, loves it, and helps get the word out!

I am definitely going to see it this weekend. We need to turn out for this to show that these movies make money too. I like having a mainstream romantic comedy about a young Gay man . I'm glad we aren't shown as depressed and angsty or made to look like clowns or freaks.

Ugh, more "straight-acting cutie discovers he likes other straight-acting cuties" (he's upper class, so everyone eventually breaks into applause).

It's like a movie about blacks starring lite-skins.

Special screening in LA... Here's Miles on red carpet.

And here's Keiynan.

Early screenings on Thursday around 7 PM, before the regular engagement on Friday

Hot Daddy!

And of course, Nick!

Group pic. Joey is next to Josh.

Cute!

Darren was there...

I kinda want to pound Nick's cakes.

Take a number, r147.

Keiynan Lonsdale at the premiere

Tony Hale

Joey Pollari

Greg

Gus but no Adam

Nick on Ellen, talks briefly about his brother coming out.

Opens tonight at seven

Former Disney star and ‘Love, Simon’ actor comes out as gay

R157 doesn’t read other threads on DL.

R103 I got to see the film last Saturday as part of an early preview being played in some cities. The film really is only loosely based on the novel. IMO it's actually far better than the novel.

I'm reading the book now. Will see the movie when it comes to my small town. Is it a big release?

R160 I think it's a wide release across the country and not just the big cities. Of course, there might be theaters that could boycott it, but I haven't heard any news about such reaction. This movie is really quite white bread, but you never know who might claim "religious" objection.

BOMojo indicates the movie is opening in 2,402 locations. For comparison, A Wrinikle in Time opened in 3,980 and Death Wish 2018 opened in 2,882 theaters.

My cousin’s sister’s aunt saw the sneak preview, she said it was the best gay teen film since “Get Real”.

[quote]Nick is hung, correct?

Yup, it’s a known fact from the crew that has worked with him.

R164 Yup, I heard he walked around set with his cock out all day.

I couldn’t stand Nick Robinson in Jurassic World, but he looks appealing in Love, Simon.

"The biggest surprise is Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions’ Christian rock movie I Can Only Imagine which is trying to push Greg Berlanti’s 20th Century Fox teenage gay romance movie Love, Simon out of 4th place. Each is vying for an estimated $12.5M to $13M"

it will definitely be beaten by that Christian movie. Predictions for Simon indicate a 12million and 5th place for the weekend

Budget is 17 million? How come is it so expensive to make this movie?

Has anyone already seen it? Is it any good?

It was nice. I will see it again. I like Nick Robinson, even though he seems as "too old" in this movie as you-know-who seemed in that movie we are not allowed to call by its name.

[quote] it will definitely be beaten by that Christian movie.

The Christian movie did "stun" people with its Friday box office in only 1,600+ theaters. "Love, Simon" did good, but it was in a lot more theaters. (But probably not as good as hoped for considering the hype and good reviews.)

More of them than there are of us.

But R6 , I believe many of them are also like us ;)

I meant r173. lol

Saw the film last night and I really loved it. I will likely go and see it again before it leaves theaters.

R172 According to Forbes, Simon is doing "fine" in terms of box office as it's basically right on projections and will likely come in 4th. The biggest surprises of the weekend are I Can Only Imagine ending in 3rd place, and it appears I Can Only Imagine and Love, Simon have managed to cause A Wrinkle to fall to 5th. I'm kind of disappointed that Simon hasn't broken out a bit more, and it sucks that it's being beaten by a fucking Christian flick. Simon is really the first gay centered rom-com to be treated as a mainstream film and I was hoping the community would rally around it more than they have. If Simon does well, other studios will follow suit and start wide increasing LGBT centered films. One thing though, Love, Simon will pick up almost as much in its opening weekend as Call Me By Your Name has made its entire run.

Why would Lionsgate/Roadside release their Christian flick the same weekend as Simon?

It is such an obvious dick move from the studio to take down the gay film. Fuck them!

R177 It's totally a "fuck you queers" move.

Wow so many Christians making one crap movie a hit. Color me surprised.

Christians and Conservative Right are far more mobilized these days

I think everyone releasing films this week wanted to have two good weekends before the release of Spielberg's Ready Play One on March 29th.

Lionsgate is not some anti-gay production company. Google the gay films they've released in the past.

The Christian film is about one of the members of MercyMe, the Christian rock/pop group. In the past MercyMe has taken some flak from its hardcore fans for being gay friendly and also for appearing on the Ellen show.

"I Can Only Imagine" currently has a 55% rating at Rotten. It currently has only 11 reviews compared to "Simon" with 91 reviews and a 91% rating.

[quote]"I Can Only Imagine" currently has a 55% rating at Rotten. It currently has only 11 reviews compared to "Simon" with 91 reviews and a 91% rating.

No one was arguing that the Jeebies have taste.

Another movie about gays without gay actors 😪

So is Nick Robinson straight, then?

We think so, r184.

R180 Right. Another problem for "Love, Simon" was that all those SJW's on social media who were so big on the inclusive casts/stories of "Black Panther" and "A Wrinkle In Time" said NOTHING about "Simon".

Face it, fellow white gays. We don't matter anymore.

Nick is straight however he has a younger brother who came out while he was filming the movie. The film does feature openly gay actors Joey Pollari, Clark Moore, and Keiynan Lonsdale.

It's bit disheartening that the Jesus freak, fag hating crowd have managed to steal Love Simon's thunder, but I have to say it's great to see a LGBT film being treated mainstream and doing good business. The film is not a flop people!

Watched Love Simon last night in a packed theater of 90% teen girls. My friend and I were the only gay adults in the theater. The girls absolutely went bonkers over the movie and squeed uncontrollably during the whole thing. It was one of the loudest theatergoing experiences I've had in a very long time but it's very curious to me how girls seem to make up the primary audience for what is a gay male love story. I guess girls love to see men get it on with eachother more than anyone would have thought.

Christian films and black films always do extremely well relative to their budget because not that many get released and they both represent a huge untapped market. Black Panther brought both superhero fans and also tapped into that market, which is why it is so huge, even though it's only a slightly above average popcorn flick.

R159 The novel feels incredibly slight compared to the movie, which adds a lot more depth and weight to the characters. A lot of the stuff that is only alluded to in the book is shown in the movie.

I saw the film last night and absolutely loved it. I'm in my mid-30s and I would have loved a movie like this when I was a teenager coming to terms with my sexuality.

R159 & R190 I read the novel a few weeks ago and I agree the movie has far more depth and a more mature sensibility. My one minor beef is that the novel had a but more of a sexy edge than the film. In the novel Simon is a bit more horny jerking off thinking of Blue and also thinking about having sex with Cal and they cut out the trip to the gay bar.

R188 I saw last night and the audience was mixed but yes a great deal of teenager girls there, but Fox has been targeting a 13 to 25 year old audience for this film.

I was shocked to see more minorities in my screening of the film, but then I live in Southern California so that could be it. I was kinda shocked not to see more white people supporting the film. The audience was also very young which I guess bodes well for future gay films .

[quote] I guess girls love to see men get it on with each other more than anyone would have thought.

Teen girls and older, raised on fanfiction, livejournal, twitter and tumblr, are the main audience for a lot of teen shows and YA fiction, and seem to love "cute / hot" fictional gays. Most X-rated gay fanfiction, and also published gay romance, is written by straight girls and women. So I'm not surprised.

The Love Simon audience in a nutshell.

[quote]Christian films and black films always do extremely well relative to their budget because not that many get released and they both represent a huge untapped market. Black Panther brought both superhero fans and also tapped into that market, which is why it is so huge, even though it's only a slightly above average popcorn flick.

Exactly, Christian films always make money so I don't know anyone who would be "stunned' by it being successful.

My partner and I saw LOVE, SIMON Thursday night in NY. From what I could see, the audience was almost all adults (not surprising since it was at 10pm on a weeknight). Although we're old enough to be Simon's father (if not grandfather) , we both liked it very much. I liked it more than CMBYN.

Go see it, it's a sweet movie (yeah, I got a little teary)

I hate to say it, but the kid who plays the lead role doesn't seem to have a lot of personality. I saw him being interviewed on the local news along with the pretty black girl in the cast and he just acted very sullen-like, as if he really didn't want to be there. Perhaps he was just exhausted from all of the interviews they've had to give for the movie (or just not used to this kind of attention).

R197 From what I've read about him, I think he might be shy by nature.

So predictable that people are comparing this film to Call Me By Your Name. Love, Simon is fine for what it is but CMBYN is a great film.

R199 The reason people are comparing Love Simon and CMBYN is because they were released within months of each other and because there are still too few gay centered major films released. They are both wildly different films despite their common story of a 17 year coming to terms with his sexuality. CMBYN is much more adult and a beautiful art house type film. Love, Simon is a fun and tenderhearted rom-com that was made with to have mainstream appeal. You do know it's possible to like both films right?

R200, I liked both films. But it did bother me how neutered and sexless Simon was.

R201 I agree about the sexlessness of Simon, but you have to remember Simon was written and directed to have mainstream appeal which is why the film has a more innocent tone. I loved CMBYN probably one of my favorite films of all time, but Love, Simon is more significant because it was made to test the waters to see if a gay film could have mainstream appeal and bring in money.

I thought it was wonderful. Even if one gay kid who feels like there's no place in the world for him sees this movie, it will have been worth it.

I'm 40 and I have to admit I loved it too. Clearly it's geared towards a younger audience but it's the movie I would have loved when I was a teenager. The scene with Jennifer Garner and Nick Robinson where she says "you can exhale now and be yourself" moved me to tears, and I'm not someone who cries at films often.

[bold]This is the first gay film targeted at gen Z[/bold], most which are below 18. I don't understand why do people think Simon was going to have sex when it's clearly directed at the 13-19 crowd. It's a PG-13 movie.

Does anyone know if it opened on other markets? It should make back it's money by playing on both North/South America alone.

The girls in my audience were cheering and applauding when the secret penpal was revealed.

And general applause at the end...

[quote]And general applause at the end...

Yes, there was clapping last Thursday, too. (Which there was none of, thankfully, last night at the worst movie in the world, The Party.)

i torrent, so i can't decide between paying for a ticket or not because i want to support it or because berlanti is behind it

I think it's pointless to rail against some Christian movie "stealing a gay movie's thunder". IMO they are targeted at two different demographics. It's like complaining that a superhero movie "steals a gay movie's thunder" by opening on the same weekend. Love, Simon did great. And that is a success. What would have been a sad or mean "stealing a gay movie's thunder" moment if "Call Me By Your Name" and "God's Country" would have been released on the same weekend.

CW's Riverdale promoted the movie in a recent episode by having a couple of the characters watch it in a movie theatre. Of course Riverdale is a Greg Berlanti production.

there are more christians than gays i think

r210 Punctuate, bitch.

Loved “Love, Simon” ...it’s probably my second favorite gay theme film, next to CMBYN. Nick Robinson is so dreamy! ❤️❤️❤️

I think Love Simon is the more important film. I imagine many young teens came out to their parents or friends after seeing the movie.

Saw it with a mostly gay audience, young and old at the late showing. The girls cracked me up with those, “OMG” and crying moments in the theater.. The movie meet my expectations, it was way better than I thought it was going to be. The audience clapped at the end of the film.

It got an A+ cinema score, so audiences are loving it.

[quote]The scene with Jennifer Garner and Nick Robinson where she says "you can exhale now and be yourself" moved me to tears, and I'm not someone who cries at films often

Omg, I cried at that scene too, it’s very reminiscent to the father scene in CMBYN. I cried like a little girl at the end of the movie, but a good cry!

At the Chelsea theater, people started clapping at the opening credit.

The girl next to me was sobbing a few times.

Everyone cheered when the theater teacher appeared.

Love, Simon has come in 5th at the box office this weekend with $11.5 million. It's pretty much on it's initial weekend projections as Fox had predicted an opening weekend of $10 million. The real disappointment is it was expected to come in fourth, but I Can Only Imagine performed well beyond expectations and came in third beating A Wrinkle in Time. The movie did good box office so nothing to worry about, the question is, will Simon's word of mouth allow it to hold steady for the next few weekends. If you didn't see the movie this weekend, I strongly urge you to go next Friday or Saturday. I actually think Love, Simon might have made more money if it was released in February around Valentine's Day.

Interestingly Forbes is wondering if Love, Simon lost some profit due to "ticket swapping." Due to the nature of the film, there is some speculation that some people (aka closet cases or people living in homophobic areas) bought tickets to other films and then snuck into to see Love, Simon.

With an estimated budget of $17 million the film needs to make at least $35 at the domestic box office just to break even and a total box office (domestic & worldwide) of about $50 million to be in the profit range. General rule of thumb is domestic box office needs to be double the production cost, and international box office minimum needs to match the cost of the production.

R208 buy a ticket!

As for I Can Only Imagine, there are some right-wing nuts on Twitter boasting that it outdid the gay movie, and it church groups were arranging screenings so that's that. So while I don't necessarily think homophobia was the total reason it beat out Love, Simon, that did motivate some people.

This is a tragedy.

Love, Simon was filmed in Atlanta when apparently it was supposed to be filmed in California, so from the very beginning it was destined to be a bust.

R219, it’s set in Atlanta.

[quote]Love, Simon was filmed in Atlanta when apparently it was supposed to be filmed in California

I was happy to see it was shot elsewhere. But I was confused by the single-license plate thing. I thought it was in PA for the first half of the movie.

[quote] it’s set in Atlanta.

It was going to be filmed in Sacramento but they switched it.

[quote]It was going to be filmed in Sacramento

It might have been as dull as Lady Turd.

I saw it Friday night with my friends 14 year old daughter and her friene who is a cheerleader. Btw, in the Midwest. The audience loved it and went nuts when Bram/Blue showed up to reveal himself. There was lots of clapping at the end. Also saw a gaggle of gay guys there. Audience was primarily teenagers.

Honestly, it warmed my black, cold heart to see the reaction, in the theater. It is obvious the younger generation doesn't care who loves who. Two guys falling for each other was no big deal to them.

[quote] It is obvious the younger generation doesn't care who loves who. Two guys falling for each other was no big deal to them.

Not to ruin your happy feeling, but the younger generation *who would show up to gay love story*. The audience is inherently self-selecting.

The main actor is so hard looking in the face, and he has such a round body. I hope there are hotties in this movie.

From Deadline

"The assumption heading into the weekend was that Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon after earning strong previews of $800K last Saturday would potentially be the one to overperform. The $10M production still did fine with an $11.5M three day, and A+ CinemaScore.

Love, Simon drew 58% females, 42% males with 59% under 25. The movie over-indexed in the west, Northeast, and Midwest; slightly under-indexed in the Rockies; and under-indexed in the south and southeast. Top 20 markets that over-indexed include LA, NY, SF, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Minneapolis. Top grossing theaters came from LA, NY, SF, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, and San Antonio. Canada repped 5.6% of the weekend’s take."

Nick Robinson’s performance is disappointing. I felt that the actor was tentative, not the character. I didn’t believe him. Only reinforced for me the genuine brilliance of Timothee Chalamet’s work in CMBYN.

I liked it

It doesn't premiere until June here in Norway :(

Simon needed to whip his dong out.

R227 Basically the film did well in all the markets you'd expect it to and under-performed in the places you would expect it to. I saw it in Toronto on Friday night 9 pm showing and the theater was nearly sold out. It was a mixed crowd but large contingent of teenage girls.

I plan on seeing it again next weekend and bringing some friends.....lets try and tank that fucking christian trash.

[quote] I felt that the actor was tentative....

The actor WAS tentative. Even after he was offered the role, he had to be convinced by the director to take it. He also said that even during the start of filming, he thought that he might be making a mistake being in this movie.

[quote] As a straight dude, Robinson admits that it made him "personally nervous" to play a gay character. He didn't feel like it was his "place" — he didn't want to be pretending to know an experience he was unfamiliar with.

[quote] "But I was also just nervous to play a gay character, period," he acknowledges. "There were still some tremors from past times where that was frowned upon."

[quote] "I think that's kind of unfounded, and that audiences are accepting enough now to understand that either way you go, it's a character."

[quote] That's partially why when Greg Berlanti, the director of the film, called Robinson to offer him the lead — the young star sounded less than enthused. "When I told him he got the job, I could tell he seemed a little nervous," recalls the filmmaker, who is best known in the television space for his work on teen series like "Dawson's Creek," "Everwood" and "The Flash." "And then I got a little nervous and worried that he was not as interested in the role."

[quote] Berlanti says Robinson wasn't explicit about his concerns — "maybe he was nervous because I'm a gay person," the director says with a laugh....

[quote] Berlanti was able to assuage Robinson's concerns, but the actor's anxiety still took a while to dissipate. "There were moments when we were making it when I would wake up some mornings and be like, 'I don't know if I can do this,'" says Robinson, talking about his experience on the Atlanta set. "But Greg was always there to remind not just me, but everyone, why what we were making was different and, dare I say, important.

[quote] Top 20 markets that over-indexed include LA, NY, SF, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Minneapolis. Top grossing theaters came from LA, NY, SF, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, and San Antonio.

Texas was Simon's 2nd best overall market. <3

St. Louis being a top market for a gay film makes me shed a tear.

Ironic that California was Simon's top market, yet Berlanti moved the production out of the state to Deplorable Georgia (where it underperformed). A little loyalty would go a long way Greg...

Wow, I guess it’s good that Nick Robinson is so open about his headspace while filming, but it’s also kind of sad.

Can someone tell us where the casting took place? If it was in L.A, I am sure there were enough good gay young actors that would have loved the opportunity to play a gay lead in a mainstream film.

From R233's post it looks like Nick Robinson was never 100% on the film, even now. Greg Berlanti is a disgrace !

[quote] "I don't know if I can do this," says Robinson.

"What a pussy." -- Timothée Chalamet, onscreen with a peach on his dick and Armie Hammers' swimtrunks on his head.

So reading between the lines, it sounds like Nick Robinson's people tried to scare him off the project because they feared he could be cast typed. The more things change, the more they stay the same in Hollywood.

Will never understand the insistence of these so called out and proud filmmakers to hire straight actors. Quite a reflection of DL where we lust after straight actors and put down gay actors by emasculating them in all ways possible. That's the first thing that needs to change for a true change to happen. Atleast Berlanti chose a guy who isn't all macho or overtly masculine like the vapid Hammer. Yes R237 what a stark contrast to Timothee's approach. That's why we love Timmy

Who could have played Simon instead? High-school-age-looking only, please.

R240 I've seen people saying Joey Pollari (who is in the movie) could've been cast as Simon seeing as he's actually gay, young, and can act (see his role on 'American Crime') but they were obviously looking for star power to sell this movie so ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Joey Pollari would have been better. Or his American Crime friend, who looks younger. Or Miles Heizer.

R240 Brandon Flynn?

He'd've been much nicer, R243.

Armie Hammer?

I could have played one of his high school chums!

[quote] Ironic that California was Simon's top market, yet Berlanti moved the production out of the state to Deplorable Georgia (where it underperformed). A little loyalty would go a long way Greg...

Except that big liberal California doesn't offer shit in the way of tax credits for films and Georgia does. The only way a film like this got made was to make it for as low a budget as possible. What makes that possible? Tax credits.

[quote]Ironic that California was Simon's top market, yet Berlanti moved the production out of the state to Deplorable Georgia (where it underperformed). A little loyalty would go a long way Greg...

Poor California. No one ever makes movies there.

Robinson was cast because he was in Jurassic World. Probably the most box office draw appeal from all the ones chosen to play the role.

That's a myth, both Greta Gerwig and Jordan Horowitz have gone on record about California being a friendly place to make movies. There are a ton of Indie films that are made throughout California and the cities always accommodate for film making.

What's happening is that in [corrupt] Georgia the movie studios can get away with underpaying the production staff and going around SAGFTRA rules. Greta Gerwig is right, it's not ethical.

[quote]Poor California. No one ever makes movies there.

Eat a dick Georgia !

[quote]Who could have played Simon instead? High-school-age-looking only, please.

What was the big complaint about CMBYN? The lead looked prepubescent even though he was age appropriate.

[quote]'ve seen people saying Joey Pollari (who is in the movie) could've been cast as Simon seeing as he's actually gay, young, and can act

He wasn't out when they filmed the movie

I'm mid forties and saw it today. It's contrived and has way too smart dialogue for kids and is mushy and I loved every second of it. Clearly an homage to the John Hughes films of my childhood. If I had this movie back then, I can honestly say things would've been different for me. And Nick is a little bland but I think that the Tom Hanks "Everyman" quality works in this film because anyone can relate to him. He's not too gay or too straight or too good looking or too ripped. He's just kind of average.

I'll be frank, I hate the argument that only gay actors should play characters. So that also would mean that gay actors shouldn't play straight parts or how about only actors who are parents should be able to play parent roles, or only women who've been pregnant should play pregnant roles, or an actor should commit a murder to play a murderer.....shall I go on? Actors are hired to play make-believe not necessarily mirror their own lives.

I will agree that Hollywood still pressures it actors to remain closeted and that has to change, but I couldn't give a rat's ass who plays a gay character just as long as they are good in the part. Maybe there will be a point in the future where more gay actors will play characters but you know how that will happen, by studios making gay films and gay tv shows and they only way that'll happen is if they make money. The people who lament the hiring of straight actors are advocating all or nothing, and that is not how progress works. It's baby steps. Let's been honest, Love, Simon is the first gay film since Brokeback Mountain (13 years ago) to be treated in a mainstream wide release manner. We still have a long way to go so rather then pissing into the wind, go and buy a ticket and support the cause of getting more gay stories on the big screen.

R243 bang on! R245 LMAO I guess some people here would find that erotic "barf". R253 This film would've been just as hit with an openly gay actor. There no need for "baby steps". People who are flocking to see this don't really care if it's the actor is gay. Why not cast openly gay actors? I think it's the internalized homophobia that these older generation gay filmmakers have

R254 It's very possible the film would still have been a hit with an openly gay lead, I didn't say that it wouldn't. Also as I indicated in my response that yes homophobia is to blame for actors remaining closeted. That being said, by saying only gay actors should play gay roles, you are effectively limiting gay actors to only playing gay parts, it's a double edged sword. I'm sorry but I would rather get a ton of gay roles played by straight actors than no gay roles at all. Maybe representation matters more to me because when I was growing up there were absolutely zero gay characters anywhere.

The (dumb, imo) argument seems to be: The minority can play the majority. The majority can not play the minority.

This is why no one seems to be complaining about Joey Pollari playing a straight man. Except for me. I want Joey to be gay and hooking up with other men on television and in film as often as possible.

R255 I agree that gay roles shouldn't be exclusive to gay actors but it would be nice if it wasn't a straight actor 80% of the time.

[quote] gay roles shouldn't be exclusive to gay actors

Exactly, the majority of gay roles are [bold]played by straight actors[/bold] because they are not gay. There lies the problem.

It is not as simple as gays blocking straight actors from playing gay. It's gay actors being discriminated for being gay. A film like "Simon" would have been a good opportunity to hire a gay actor as the lead because this film was never going through break through outside of large cities. I asure you that Berlanti [bold]never[/bold] considered an out gay actor for Simon's role.

It's only an issue because gay actors are obviously still being discriminated against. I agree anyone should play anybody. It's just sad to hear stories like this that he needed so much convinsing

I saw the film yesterday in a mall in Albany, NY. It's a slick Hollywood rom-com with a gay theme. There aren't many of those. It's full of all the same mediocre nonsense that permeates all Hollywood rom-coms. But this one is gay. So strike a blow for equality. 1 for us. 10,000 for them. But there is now one for us.

A plot device in the film is Simon and an anonymous student at his school support each other online as they struggle with coming out. Like Data Lounge, but the exact opposite.. Will they meet? Who will it be? When it resolved, the audience in Albany cheered. Cheered for two gay high school boys.

That got me. I remember seeing MAKING LOVE in 1982 in New York City. Certainly not a rom-com. Lotsa angst. Lotsa shame. Lotsa tears. When Harry Hamlin and Michael Ontkean did no more than kiss, there was booing in the theater and shouts of "Faggots!" Awful. Ugly. Very tense moment. In NYC. I appreciated LOVE, SIMON for being nothing more than sweet and funny and very positive about the gay kids it depicted. And a few hundred people in shopping mall in upstate New York cheered for it. That's a big change. I was moved to see it.

I thought Nick was wonderful and he's very good looking. The girls in the audience clearly knew he was and must have been pretty in to him otherwise they wouldn't have found the romantic scenes, the few that there are, as compelling. That said, I think Connor Jessup would have done just as good as a job, and is similarly attractive.

One of the reasons why I don't think Love, Simon over performed like some though it would is because many "older" gays didn't feel the movie was targeted towards them. I'm 35 and when I told a couple friends last week I planned on seeing it most of them were like "that's for teens."

It is definitely aimed at teens though. Not to say other people can't enjoy it, but we aren't the target demographic.

Nick masturbating.

[quote]Who could have played Simon instead? High-school-age-looking only, please.

You called?

R263 *Aimed at teen girls.

Little blurb from Box Office Mojo: "Rounding out the top five is Fox's Love, Simon, delivering an estimated $11.5 million from 2,402 locations. While this is a bit below Mojo's forecast, it falls right in line with the studio's expectations and given the "A+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences the film could be looking to play for quite some time. Love, Simon played to an audience that was 58% female and 41% were over the age of 25."

Feets

R269 That's hot. Is that a deleted scene from Everything, Everything? Don't recall seeing that in the movie.

No idea.

Pits

I saw the movie yesterday and loved it. Very very sweet, charming, and funny.

R272 This.... looks nothing like him.

mmm, these studios are now casting these pretty nubile twinks in leading roles to lure in the old gay dollars.

I do agree with some of the criticisms about Nick Robinson at times he seemed a little flat and overwhelmed, but I thought his performance picks up towards the second half of the film. I think part of that is just Nick's personality as he seems very reserved and shy and real life (although he seems more relaxed during interviews I've seen with him in Australia where he is promoting the film this week). According to Greg Berlanti, Nick was really nervous at being the center of a big film as he wasn't sure he had the acting chops to carry the entire film.

I also agree with the argument that gay roles shouldn't be restricted to gay actors only, but I do agree that all the fuss that is often made interviews about a straight actor playing gay needs to stop. Berlanti made a good point in his interview with Buzzfeed saying that you can't say to an actor who walks in the door "what's your sexual orientation" no HR department would allow that in the business world nor should it happened in acting.

As for box office, some sites are saying the film had a $17 million production budget others are saying it was $10 million. If it was $10 million then it made back it's budget in the opening weekend and that would make Fox very happy. Basically to be in the profit zone on a $10 million budget, it needs to make a minimum of $20 million at the domestic box office. If it's $17 million it needs to make a minimum of $34 million at the domestic box office.

[quote] As for box office, some sites are saying the film had a $17 million production budget others are saying it was $10 million. If it was $10 million then it made back it's budget in the opening weekend and that would make Fox very happy. Basically to be in the profit zone on a $10 million budget, it needs to make a minimum of $20 million at the domestic box office. If it's $17 million it needs to make a minimum of $34 million at the domestic box office.

Right, because they marketed it for free.

This movie seemed to have spent quite a lot on marketing, especially relative to its budget.

I'd say in the neighborhood of $15-$20m. They did a LOT of sneak preview screenings to help word of mouth, had a very large outdoor campaign and a HUGE online campaign. Not sure how much TV they did.

If it takes $20m in ticket sales, after they deduct for marketing, it'll probably make about $50 profit.

I thought “Love, Simon” was a lovely movie, I can’t say anything negative about it. I plan on watching it again this weekend, and I already purchased the digital download on iTunes.

[quote] Interestingly Forbes is wondering if Love, Simon lost some profit due to "ticket swapping." Due to the nature of the film, there is some speculation that some people (aka closet cases or people living in homophobic areas) bought tickets to other films and then snuck into to see Love, Simon.

This is interesting. I guess not all theaters have assigned seating, as we do in NY (big thumbs up). I can't remember the last time I went to the ticket window to buy my tickets. We buy them from the machine, and if it's available, on the website.

I would think a closet case would be just as worried about someone seeing them leaving the theater as they would some bored ticket seller thinking they were a big 'mo, but I've been out so long I forget these things.

Nick and his “Look at how straight I am playing this gay role!!!” posturing is worse even than Armie Hammer’s. Can’t wait for his career to never take off and his inevitable coming out as “fluid” or “queer” in 5 years.

This is a easily solvable problem if people quit always hiring straight guys to star in gay stories r283. God knows if that would ever happen.

Nick is going to turn to gay porn.

Xavier Dolan expresses his love and appreciation for "Love, Simon."--

After seeing Love, Simon, I felt like coming out to my mom Jennifer Garner (the 13 Going on 30 Jen), and walking in the corridor of my high school with a lost, yet sexual gaze.

Congrats to my friend @therealnickrobinson who is so generous and genuine in this that I filed a proper adoption form. I’ve stored my passport in the freezer once or twice Nick but I can be a good parent to you.

More seriously, let’s not discuss the movie itself, but rather focus on its existence, and the fact a major studio has released a film on a teen coming out. A door has opened, which has opened before, but this time, I can see the light pouring in. I’ve watched so many LGBTQ films as a kid, desperately looking for answers, locked up in my room, where I’d download movies on LimeWire for lack of a decent video store. Most of them were brilliant and invigorating for the young artist I wanted to be, but left the young man I was with little to hope for. Suicides, heartbreaks, bullying, gay-bashing... Love, Simon, in all its earnestness, in all its normalcy, shows the struggle of coming out, but with an inspiring conclusion for teenagers who will see “Love, Simon” because they don't feel "normal".

Perhaps this will teach them that, even if their life isn't as privileged as Simon’s, they can make a move. And perhaps this can teach us, as an industry, that it’s time to stop relinquishing LGBTQ protagonists to insubstantial, typically comical supporting roles, but rather offer them narratives designed around them, and around the opposite of what is commonly referred to as ”normal people”. Normal is a changeful notion.

Had a movie like that existed when I was 15, I maybe wouldn’t have lied to my father about that Ashton Kutcher poster I pretended to give my cousin Stefanie in front of him while it was actually mine. Had I seen it then, things would’ve been different. And I’m happy with how things went, and despite the loneliness you feel as a teen coming out, I felt supported. I was lucky. But most kids aren't.

Love Simon is a huge step for them, and for us. Thank you to all the artists and people involved.

[quote] Congrats to my friend @therealnickrobinson who is so generous and genuine in this that I filed a proper adoption form. I’ve stored my passport in the freezer once or twice Nick but I can be a good parent to you.

What an odd thing to say. He knows Nick is only 22 right? Dolan is only 28.

I loved the movie! The story plays out like a mystery, replete with false leads, misread signals and other red herrings, as Simon tries to identify Blue. Could Blue be a woman, I thought. It reminded me of one Perry Mason episode where a prime suspect is discredited, or is he/she? It was fascinating, touching, happy.

Pictures from the Australian premiere of "Love, Simon" on March 18th.

In some pictures, Nick Robinson looks way young enough to play a high school student.

I watched a couple interviews with Nick in Australia and he seems to be much more relaxed now.

R283, I'm glad you said that. While I don't hold a grunge against Nick, he's only 20 and was scared to take on the role, but still did it and did a good job. But Armie, this bitch doth protested too much with the wife and kids (and one supposedly conceived in Italy). I hate this part when "straight" guys who play gay, go all out to make sure the public knows they are straight. Even Heath Ledger did it with his then co-star Michelle. I hated that then and now.

continue...

Saw it last night. I had tears in my eyes more times than I care to admit. The theatre teacher was hysterical and had the audience laughing a few times. Her delivery was excellent.

When I heard Jennifer Garner was in it, I was in - such a warm presence to spare in all her latest films, here as Simon's mother. Josh Duhamel was equally excellent as the father. Both their later individual scenes with Simon had me in tears. Splendid performers.

I have never seen an audience respond to a movie the way that they did with this one. There were cheers, loud laughter, emotional outbursts, people talking to the screen.

Script is superb. For example, when Simon comes out to his good friend Abby in the car. She simply says "I Love You." She does not use a qualifier like "I still love you" or "I love you in spite of that", etc. Just outstanding screenplay.

R295, that’s a nice example of a good friend but no indication of the quality of the script.

MARY!

Why is anyone wanting the character to played by a gay actor. When that happens you get Noah Galvin and that annoying kid on Champions

How a movie is deemed profitable by studios is a bit more complex than the simple 2 or 3 times the budget. The opening weekend and the second weekend are the two most important weekends for a film. The media focus tends to be on the opening weekend take to indicate if a film is a hit, however, the second weekend is actually a much better indicator. If a film has a solid opening weekend but then has a big drop in box office the second weekend, say 50%, it's a sign that the film might not have long term sustainability. A Wrinkle in Time is a current example of this it came in right on studio estimates at $33 million opening weekend, but in its second weekend it dropped 51% which is a worrying.

Also increasingly, movies are not necessarily turning a profit during their theatrical releases but rather only begin to turn over a profit through digital sales. This is one of the reasons we now see a decreased turnover time between theatrical run and digital sales. You'll often see films for download on iTunes or google while the film is still finishing its theatrical run (particularly films that bombed or did so-so box office) which allow studios to increase their profits. Studios typically take in 90% of digital sales during the month between the film being available to download and it being available of dvd or bluray.

[quote]Script is superb. For example, when Simon comes out to his good friend Abby in the car. She simply says "I Love You." She does not use a qualifier like "I still love you" or "I love you in spite of that", etc. Just outstanding screenplay.

Omg, that made me cry. 😢

Is there any actual conflict or drama in the film? It sounds like story is 1. gay boy comes out 2. everyone is fine with it 3. the end.

Yes, r301

R301, don’t forget the mystery of who thinks the hot boy is hot.

He has to deal with the struggle of being an attractive white guy in an upper-middle class family with incredibly supportive parents r301.

[quote] Is there any actual conflict or drama in the film? I

Simon's being blackmailed by a classmate who discovered his secret.

I saw this last night! To be honest the first quarter of the film I was kind of like what is the big deal about this film, but the second half of the movie is excellent. Jennifer Garner deserves a nomination for this film.

Sorry, R301. This is no real conflict or drama in ANY rom com. This is a sweet, entertaining, piece of fluff and it succeeds in being just that. And not something else.

[quote]This is no real conflict or drama in ANY rom com

No conflict, no story. The fact he's apparently being blackmailed sounds like the main catalyst for the plot. I'm going to see it anyway, I'm looking forward to it...

Sorry, that should say "no conflict = no story".

If you go, you will be in good company. Angelina took the kids to see it.

[quote] Angelina Jolie and her children had a night at the movies this weekend. The 42-year-old actress and director reportedly took her kids – Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 11, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 9 – to a screening of Love, Simon. While some fans thought that Angelina and the fam saw Tomb Raider, a moviegoer in the theater says that the group was seeing Love, Simon.

[quote]Why is anyone wanting the character to played by a gay actor. When that happens you get Noah Galvin

And nobody will bat an eye because Galvin is almost a doppelganger for Nick Robinson. Seems you have some issues with gay actors.

R310 That’s nice. Tomb Raider wouldn’t have been better. Even though I like Alicia Vikander, she’s not so good in it.

[quote]I saw this last night! To be honest the first quarter of the film I was kind of like what is the big deal about this film, but the second half of the movie is excellent. Jennifer Garner deserves a nomination for this film.

Garner was great, I thought it was her best performance so far in a movie.

R311 No, just walking stereotypes.

Ah yes, thank goodness Simon is played by a masculine straight boy. It would be disgusting if some f@g actor brought their disgusting gay mannerisms to this gay character.

It would kind of defeat the story if everyone could tell Simon was gay already.

I knew Nick wasn't gay the moment I saw him attempt to dance to Whitney's I wanna dance with somebody.

[Quote] Even though I like Alicia Vikander, she’s not so good in it.

Still don't understand why they picked her for that role.

r317 = Armie H.

I find it hilarious how terrible Nick Robinson is on the red carpet. He is at the premiere of his big movie and he looks like a washed-up middle-aged man, not a hot rising star.

[quote]It would be disgusting if some f@g actor brought their disgusting gay mannerisms to this gay character.

just a thought, maybe there could be a masculine gay actor. Why does it have to be a nelly like Noah Galvin.

^ He's rehearsing to play James Woods.

If gay directors won't hire gay actors to play gay roles in a gay romcom movie, why do we expect straight directors to hire gay actors to play any kind of role at all?

It's great that Berlanti saw this movie through and it is a relative success. But it's very disappointing that - yet again - it has to be anchored by a straight actor.

"Love, Simon", "Call Me By Your Name" and "God's Own County" were all directed by gay men. And they all chose straight men to star in them.

Though at least Love, Simon did hire some gay actors, better than a lot of these movies can say sadly.

[quote] Though at least Love, Simon did hire some gay actors

Yeah, by the time of the film's release, all the possible gay love interests (Blue) are gay in real life, even if their characters weren't.

R324, isn’t the verdict still out on Timmy?

"Fourth Man Out" actually found an openly gay actor for its lead, and he played the masculine "normal" gay guy perfectly.

One of the few times these coming out stories has actually starred a gay guy.

R325, I don’t think Miles Heizner is out. I mean, his Drag Race obsession makes it pretty obvious, but he hasn’t technically said the words.

No one who watched "13 Reasons Why" thought Miles Heizner was straight, the poor kid can't hide the gay even when he was really trying to.

Whereas his gay co-star Brandon Flynn actually could play straight well.

Okay, the only "Blue" actor coming out stories I read were about Joey Pollari and Keiynan Lonsdale (Bram). Miles Heizner talked a lot about the importance of the movie, but no personal revelations that I could find.

The key is to get more films with gay leads made. The only way to do this is for us to go see them. Those Christian people understand this. They rally when those films come out. They make them successful if even just moderately so. We bitch that the lead isn't really gay knowing full well, we won't support it even if he was. Money talks.

It would seem several people here on DL have never been in a management position, at least one in a blue state like California. Directors cannot ask about someone’s sexual orientation during the job interview/casting process. It is against the law. Yes, the director could hire an openly gay actor (or one they know to be gay). Berlanti and/orcthe studio may have also wanted someone with experience or a recognizable face. There simply are not that many openly gay young actors who meet that criteria.

Robinson did a fine job in the role. His nervousness waiting for that first email and his reactions after the online reveal were spot on. His scenes with Simon’s parents were also very good. I have no complaints with his performance.

There are at least three openly gay actors in the film (the ones portraying Bram, Ethan and Lyle) with Cal’s portrayer possibky being a fourth. That itself is progress.

Instead of complaining about the lack of a gay actor in the lead role, go buy some tickets to Love, Simon so that Hollywood will want to make another fun and heartwarming gay teen rom com. Maybe that next one will star an out actor or actress.

[quote]Berlanti and/orcthe studio may have also wanted someone with experience or a recognizable face.

Ain't this always the excuse.

Bullshit, there are many ways casting directors get actors to spill if they are out or not. Berlanti would have disqualified any out gay actor auditioning for the lead role.

R331 & R332 I agree!!! If we want to see gay characters leading movies beyond little art house limited release films, then we need to support films like Love, Simon. Lets be brutally honest here; Movie studios are there to make money not to start social movements or solve the world's problems, so of course their first instinct is to go with a "name" that's going to help bring in business. I guess it's not enough that the director is openly gay and three members of the cast are out. I guess the story really isn't valid anyways because the original novel was written by a straight woman, and the screen play was written by a straight married couple............

[quote] the story really isn't valid anyways because the original novel was written by a straight woman, and the screen play was written by a straight married couple

Both these things are very obvious....

[quote]It would kind of defeat the story if everyone could tell Simon was gay already.

He reveals the fact that he's gay in a voice-over very early in the movie

It was also written 20 years too late. The performances were good, it was cute at times, but I kept saying to myself as I watched, "How is this movie being made in 2018 about an upper-middle-class kid who admits his life is perfect, with young hip parents, in a beautiful town, with multi-cultural friends -- and his problem coming out is what?" Try this during the AIDS crisis and it might make sense.

R335, nobody is saying "don't see the movie because the lead is straight". But nobody can tell me we can't critically discuss why even this lead role was played by a straight actor.

[quote]It would seem several people here on DL have never been in a management position, at least one in a blue state like California. Directors cannot ask about someone’s sexual orientation during the job interview/casting process. It is against the law.

Is anyone harboring the delusion that Greg Berlanti isn't aware who's young and out in Hollywood? Berlanti, who has been making teen TV series from the days of Dawson Creek? Hello?!

Jesus for some of the people who didn't like the film, you're sure spending a lot of time talking about it!

Nice article in the Atlantic about Love, Simon and that Christian movie prove that lower budget films are now safer bets to turn a profit than the big block buster and franchise films that Hollywood has been pumping out.

[quote]He reveals the fact that he's gay in a voice-over very early in the movie

The *other characters* didn’t know he was gay.

While it's sad that we still need a straight lead for a gay movie Berlanti did employ a lot of gay actors in supporting roles. Don't give me bs about how they can't ask a person if they are gay or not. YOu think the casting agents don't do their research before? If an actor is out there is no way they don't know. How else are out gay actors kept away from lead roles?

A young gay boy who is obviously gay to everyone around him but no one mentions it and waits for him to come out himself, might actually be an interesting modern twist on a coming out film. I mean, look at how some people react when anyone dares to mention that Shawn Mendes is a big ol' gay. It's obvious to everyone, but everyone, at least publicly, just ignores the fact. That might be interesting in a film. The only movie I can think of where that sort of happens is IN & OUT, but he's a middle-aged dude, rather than a young gay teen.

The actors sexuality shouldn’t matter. John hurt was straight and one of the greatest actors who ever lived. He played flamboyantly gay and repressed characters better than anyone else could have.

Nick Robinson is gay without the physical act.

R345 lives in a world where out gay actors have equal opportunities and people are hired on the sole basis of talent.

Business insiders (like casting agents or directors) know behind the scenes stuff about established actors with name recognition. You think the gay guys in the industry don't gossip (who's gay, who's straight, who hooked up with who, who puts out for a gig, the latest cover up)? Berlanti knows or at least knows someone who knows the latest gossip about certain guys he comes across (like, during the audition process).

Nobody asks someone whether he is gay, straight, or bi at such situations. But instead just assumes that gossip (or first hand knowledge by seeing the guy making out with another guy at a private party) does give one the answer without posing the question.

R344, you just described the Ethan flashback scene in Love, Simon which was played for laughs.

Taylor Lautner could've played Simon.

Tay Tay could've done it years ago. He is now a plus sized lady.

r311, are you blind? Noah Galvin and Nick Robinson look nothing alike, except for the color of their hair.

R338, Hollywood make this film 20 years ago? Hollywood leads on NOTHING. Never. If it senses an audience has grown for an idea, it will cash in. But it never, ever leads.

[quote]the screen play was written by a straight married couple............

I knew Isaac and Elizabeth were work partners. They're married to each other, too? I had imagined he liked the cock.

R353 Totally! Hollywood while full of liberals is actually a very conservative industry and they are rarely ahead of the game. I mean Hollywood is only just starting to embrace racial diversity and equality between sexes 20 years after the PC 90s where most industries formed HR departments and diversity hiring. They make movies that they think will make money and aren't going to put a mainstream film that they know will fail because the country isn't ready yet.

[quote]Tay Tay could've done it years ago. He is now a plus sized lady.

Cause god-forbid we look at life as an overweight gay men.

It gets better...as long as you are hot!

For all the people (or person I'm assuming it's one or two bitter queens) bitching about not casting an openly gay actor to play Simon I have just two words to say "baby steps." It will happen but the important thing is we need more gay characters but the only way that will happen is if movies that with a central gay characters are a hit with mainstream audiences. But lets not forget openly gay actors like Neil Patrick Harris, Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto, Chad Allen etc. have all played heterosexual characters we shouldn't limit gay actors either.

We are all happy that gay-themed movies are being made, no one is saying otherwise, but as "the gay community" of course we should be having these conversations.

I'll probably go watch Love Simon this weekend. I went to see I Can Only Imagine this past weekend because an old friend from home made a random cameo, and had a line in the movie. The movie was very good, and it was fun seeing someone I know in a Hollywood movie.

R359 Please go see it Friday or Saturday if you can to help it avoid a big second weekend drop.

[quote]It will happen but the important thing is we need more gay characters but the only way that will happen is if movies that with a central gay characters are a hit with mainstream audiences.

Let's be clear. It's a relative hit because of the buzz, and the mainstream audience saw it because of the millennials, and teen girls raised on YA lit and gay fanfic. It's not a hit because of Nick Robinson (and I have nothing against him).

[quote]But lets not forget openly gay actors like Neil Patrick Harris, Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto, Chad Allen etc. have all played heterosexual characters we shouldn't limit gay actors either.

Nobody has suggested limiting gay actors. Do you consider straight actors playing straight roles limiting?

Er, the movie is not a hit at all. The opening weekend box office was a bit disappointing actually.

It's doing well. The point is, it's attracting mainstream teen audience.

R326, even a blind nun can tell that Timmy is gay...or at the least,least, least, gaybi. He ain't straight.

R357 Letting his internalized self hating homophobia out on display with his "bitter queen" comment. He's one of the reasons we don't see gay actors getting mainstream roles.

So I just got back from seeing it.

It's a total fantasy of course. His life is damn near perfect. It's not realistic.

Doesn't matter. It's really good. It's funny and moving and has some great moments of insight. Along with a bunch of missed opportunities, sure, but it deserves to be seen, and it deserves our support.

Go see it. And stop bitching. You want to seem more, don't you? And you want better, don't you?

At any point in the film, does Simon wear a jockstrap? Asking for a friend.

R367, No, but Simon's alias in the movie is, in fact, "Jacques" (as in "Jacques a dit" = "Simon says"). So go see it.

No sexy scenes, sorry.

It's a rom-com for teens.

No sexy scenes but some nice kissing and big smiles...

No hole no care

I just saw it and nearly wanted to cry at some parts, because it touched on a lot of topics manny of us have experienced. Though it's sort of a teen-romcom some expect some unrealistically perfect setups. By the time I left the theater I was just happy that one of these movies was directed for us. It sets a positive tone for young LGBT children, so I'm thankful that this generation gets to live in an even brighter world.

So many Marys in this thread.

If you're not telling everyone you know to go see this movie and support it, what the hell is wrong with you?

I've been jacking off to fantasies about what happens after and being a third in nasty hookups with Jacques and Blue.

Did they cut out the Josh Duhamel/Nick Robinson love scene that included Nick getting a facial?

Regarding gay actor vs. straight actors. Just once I would like an openly gay actor play a heterosexual actor and then talk in interviews about how CHALLENGING it is to get into a straight character's mind and how INCREDIBLY difficult it is to make out with a woman and that openly gay actor having this overall attitude of "Hey, look! I play a straight character! Now, where is my Oscar you straight, Christian sons of bitches?".

My apologies, ... an openly gay actor play a heterosexual CHARACTER (not actor).

R377 & R378 yes that argument I do agree with. I personally don't care if a straight actor plays a gay character, but I do agree that yes there is too much of "big deal" made when a straight actors plays a gay character. Although I have to say I've seen interviews with Armie Hammer talking about CMBYN and he doesn't seem to dwell on the gay thing rather he jokes about enjoying making out with Timmy and being nervous about doing sex scenes because he wanted to ensure they looked realistic.

[quote] If you're not telling everyone you know to go see this movie and support it, what the hell is wrong with you?

I don't know any 13 year old girls?

Do you know any parents? Any gay people at all?

Jesus, R380, what the fuck is wrong with you?

A LOT more people should see this than just 'teen girls'. Get a clue.

[quote] Do you know any parents? Any gay people at all?

I am gay, and I have no desire to see it. I don't wish it ill will, I just don't care about coming out stories. We needed these thirty years ago, not now. You can get a coming out story from any YouTuber or Instagram ho looking for their 15 minutes. And everyone I know feels the same way. We're adults. We're beyond coming out stories and minstrel shows.

I'd rather see a mature love story between two adult males, complex, moving,emotional, that is about them first and being gay last. Make more films like "Weekend," that's what we're in short supply of, not teenage coming out stories. Those are a dime a dozen.

[quote] Jesus, [R380], what the fuck is wrong with you?

I don't suffer from arrested development?

[quote] A LOT more people should see this than just 'teen girls'. Get a clue.

Who? Flyovers? Sure, they deserve a good fairy tale just as much as the next person. Go buy them tickets.

R382

I can't decide whether to watch "Weekend" or not. It's available enough, but r382 was SUCH an asshole about it.

It's kinda embarrassing that you are a gay man that hasn't seen "Weekend" r384. Like it or hate it, it is one of those movies I assume every gay men has seen.

There are tons of gay movies that have come before this one y'know.

Oh fuck off, R382. God you're arrogant, insufferable, and tedious. Are you a psychopath, because it sure seems like you're utterly lacking in empathy. Ugh. Go away, ass.

"Every gay men," R385? That would embarrass me more than not having seen a movie.

Weekend?

Never heard of it.

Ever seen The Ritz? I would welcome a dozen more like that one.

Most gay films that achieve any real success are mainly aimed at straight girls and women, that's just par for the course. Brokeback Mountain, CMBYN, Beach Rats, this one. I didn't rate Moonlight as highly as others, but that seemed like an exception.

Happy Birthday Nick! 🎂

[quote]I knew Nick wasn't gay the moment I saw him attempt to dance to Whitney's I wanna dance with somebody.

Omg, I loved that scene! I actually cried, because the whole movie was wonderful.

Good article about LGB teens (not a genderqueer pansexual among them!) and their feelings on the movie.

[quote] Shawn Mendes nearly auditioned for the lead role in Love, Simon

[quote] During an interview with Elvis Duran, Shawn called the critically-acclaimed film an “incredible, incredible movie”, and praised the work of lead actor Nick Robinson. The host then asks Shawn if the rumours of him auditioning for the lead character are true, to which the Canadian singer/songwriter responds: “I would’ve loved to. Unfortunately, timing didn’t work out. It would’ve been amazing!”

Alternative headline: Shawn Mendes never auditioned for Love, Simon; those rumors are false.

Shawn never auditioned for it, but in an interview he expressed interest in it after he saw the finished product.

We wanted someone a bit less flaming.

[quote] Oh fuck off, [R382]. God you're arrogant, insufferable, and tedious. Are you a psychopath, because it sure seems like you're utterly lacking in empathy. Ugh. Go away, ass

Why are you so angry? We're all thrilled you found another dreamboat to relive your teenage years with in your head. I'm sire Timothee was feeling a little stale.

R397 proves he knows less than he assumes.

I hated beach rats so much. I could tell 2 minutes in it was made by a woman who hated men and I wasn't wrong.

Love simon is great and all gays I know can't dance to save their lives. Then again I mostly hang with masculine gays so the prissy type is out of question. Waiting for the "Mary" guy to come after me now...

R391 I loved that scene too. Nick may be a good dancer for all we know but I don't think him dancing well was the point. For those growing up in a small town, that's what being gay looks like.

[quote]Love simon is great and all gays I know can't dance to save their lives. Then again I mostly hang with masculine gays so the prissy type is out of question.

Desperate much to claim "masc for masc" credentials?

I more feel sad for that guy. You have insecurity issues with your masculinity and sexuality out the wazoo and I don't think you realize it.

I could never dance either... especially at that age.

This notion that 'all gays can dance' needs to die. No, we can't.

R403 Calm down Mary, it was just a joke.

Sucks to be R403 at a party, I guess.

People like R382 who think this movie should have been made 30 years ago and therefore won't support it are just plain blindly stupid. Don't you see that is exactly the reason we need to support it? It took thirty effing years for a simple gay love story such as this to become a mainstream movie. That is how homophobic this world is. That is the reason why we need to help make it a huge success. So we can get more of the serious adult gay stories we all want.

Box Office Mojo is predicting that Love, Simon will drop to number 7 with an estimated $6.5 million this weekend. That's a drop of 43.5% between first and second weekend which is "ok." Ideally the film would drop less than 40% but golden rule is less than 50% means the film has legs.

Why would the film have "legs", though? The main audience for this is teenage girls who are fans of Nick or stories like this. The next biggest demographic, presumably, is gay male teenagers and then gay men. I imagine most of those who were going to see it have already seen it?

R408 Legs in movie terms means a film has enough momentum (e.g. good critical reviews, positive word of mouth, solid repeat business etc.) with its target demographic that will ensure it will remain in theaters for a long enough run to earn a profit.

In Hollywood, a movie's momentum is judged by its opening weekend take, and how much it drops between the first and second weekend. If a film experiences a large drop between the first two weekends, it is often a sign that the target audience is more interested in a competing film or just not interested at all. A big drop means theaters will stop showing the film faster thereby decreasing the likelihood of solid profits.

Also not everyone runs out the the theater and sees a film the weekend it opens. People who are really interested in the film will, but people who might have heard about it or who have seen a trailer but weren't dying to see it but interested might go second or third weekend. Studios advertising campaigns are the heaviest in the month before the release and the week between opening weekend and second weekend.

Full page ad in the NY Times today. I presume other major metropolitan areas will have the same.

Of course, Millennials have never picked up a newspaper in their lives

You geeze beautifully, r410.

[quote] Matt Bomer Buys Out His Texas Hometown Theater for Love, Simon: 'This Is an Important Movie'

Bomer told Out magazine last year that coming out to his parents was incredibly difficult given their conservative Christian values.

“There was radio silence for a long, long time, at least six months,” he said. “And then I came home and we had the blowup that I’d always feared. But we got that out of the way, and we got down to the business of figuring out how to love each other. I would say within a matter of years we started to figure it out. It was a struggle.”

“Please come see @lovesimonmovie in my hometown of Spring, TX for free! @halls.simon and I bought out the whole screening for you,” reads Bomer’s post. “This is an important movie, and a really good one. I know you’ll love it so come watch for free this Sunday!” The post further explains where and how to pick up tickets for the showing. Love, Simon is a coming-of-age story about a gay high school student, Simon (Nick Robinson), who falls in love with an anonymous classmate over email but struggles to come out to his loved ones. The film also stars Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, and Katherine Langford. Becky Albertalli, author of Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda, upon which the film is based, recently spoke to EW about her hopes that the film would reach kids in towns like Bomer’s. “I’m thinking about kids in the South and Midwest who their small town might not get some of the really beautiful and acclaimed indie films that are kind of coming out in this space,” she said. “If Love, Simon makes it there and it’s mainstream enough that everybody’s watching it, then a kid who’s not out yet can see that it’s not a big deal and they get to feel seen. That’s my hope.” Love, Simon is in theaters now.

That was a lovely thing for Matt to do.

It's kinda funny because Tyler Oakley was the first person to announce he was buying out a Love, Simon screening (at least as far as I know), but when Matt Bomer did it it generated all the headlines in the gay blogosphere.

The whole point of a mainstream movie is that you're making something that is likely to sell tickets. If these morons keep buying out theaters and giving tickets away for free, it both undermines the only really "important" thing about this film (it's marketability) and also makes it look like it's underperforming and so they're having to GIVE THE TICKETS AWAY!!!

OTOH, R416, there might be people who would feel too embarrassed to stand at the ticket counter and ask for a ticket to THAT GAY MOVIE. This means they wouldn't have to do that.

R417 THANK YOU! This is something Forbes discussed in their box office report last week. Forbes is not saying it happened, but they speculated that some teenagers in parts of the south or middle America, where the film somewhat under performed, may have bought tickets to other films and snuck into Love, Simon maybe so their [religious] parents wouldn't suspect.

Oh, R416! You don't understand. It's called a PUBLICITY event. It makes it appear that there is something exciting about this particular film. That excitement piques the public's interest. The frequent result is that they will rush to their local cinemas to have some "Love, Simon" excitement for themselves.

It's not as if people across the country could not go to the Hollywood premier of STAR WARS... so they just stayed home and turned their back on it and refused to go. Publicity works.

[quote]It makes it appear that there is something exciting about this particular film.

Something so exciting they have to give the tickets away for free?! I understand that it's publicity and that Simon Halls works for or with Greg Berlanti and it's also good PR for him and Matt... but giving away tickets for free does not make it seem like there is major excitement about the film.

[quote]It's not as if people across the country could not go to the Hollywood premier of STAR WARS... so they just stayed home and turned their back on it and refused to go. Publicity works.

Well, they didn't have to give a single ticket for Star Wars away, did they? You know, because everyone was so excited about seeing it that they went out in their droves and queued for hours to buy a ticket with their own money.

That's the kind of story that Halls should be planting: "People are queuing for hours to see LOVE, SIMON! Some are even coming back a second and third time!!!" Not: "We've bought an entire theater's tickets for this movie! Come and see it for free!!! Please??? IT'S IMPORTANT!!!!"

That's nice of Bomer. Octavia Spencer, Kendrick Lamar, Serena Willaims and Travis Scott all recently rented out movie theatres for free screenings of Black Panther. Chance the Rapper did the same thing with Get Out last year. Nothing to stroke out over.

[quote] but giving away tickets for free does not make it seem like there is major excitement about the film.

But something else besides "creating excitement" may be going on here. Bomer and his husband didn't buy out a theater in WEHO or LA, they bought out one matinee performance in the Texas small town that Bomer grew up in. That's where (he says) he came out to his parents, they didn't speak to him for 6 months, and when they did there was a shouting match that took years to get over.

I think this is another case of a gay man wishing he had seen this movie when he was growing up, and so he wants to give that experience denied to him to gay kids struggling in that small town environment.

R416 is so dumb it makes me want to cry. It's sad the importance of giving kids free access to a gay movie in a small conservative town in Texas escapes you. There are so many people on social media saying they want to watch the movie but don't have the money and the parents won't give them. It's not like he bought tickets in NYC or LA. It's a very significant thing that he did and so many others like Octavia Spencer are joining in.

R416 - you really are clueless. When I was 15, I didn’t have a dime in my pocket. I had to ask my parents for movie money which would have led to more questions. I roamed the mall after school like every 80s kid. Buying the tickets and giving them to teens isn’t about marketing. It doesn’t create a buzz to get people to see the movie. It gives teens who would never be able to see it access.

I saw it last night in a theater full of teens. Many Indian American guys. I’m sure they told their parents they were seeing one of the three Bollywood movies playing and snuck into Simon. The actual seating chart showed maybe 25% of the tickets sold.

[quote]When I was 15, I didn’t have a dime in my pocket.

Yeah, but this is 2018 not 1918. Most kids have enough money for a movie ticket these days. If this is really some altruistic thing about giving closeted kids the chance to see the film, there are plenty of ways they could actually do that which are better than buying up one showing and giving the tickets away randomly to anyone who wants one. It's PR, love. It's good for Greg and it's good for Simon/Matt.

Oh, shut up, r426.

R427 Ditto!

Some people are so cynical the only thing we can do is hope they find a cure for it. I wish I had the mo do something like this. I would in a hearbeat. I'm happy so many celebrities are supporting this coming out movie in such way

This movie is super charming and does zero harm. In fact, it can only do good. You can’t get a more likable protagonist. He is allowed to be flawed and not just saintly. His family is totally unrealistic and too fucking perfect (I mean seriously) but it feels so current to me in terms of capturing the mood of overall acceptance but still not a cakewalk and still something in which to grapple and agonize. I would urge people to see it if nothing else to support the film financially.

In an effort to irritate some people upthread, more celebrities are buying out theater performances of Love, Simon in their home towns (or other flyover locations.)

Matt Bomer and his husband

Greg Berlanti and his husband

Neal Patrick Harris and his husband

Kristen Bell

They're all so selfless and caring!!!

Nothing is selfless. It's a good thing still.

Forbes is now predicting a drop of only 32% and a second-weekend take of $8 million.

Looks like it has even more legs than Box Office Mojo originally predicted.

[quote]Love simon is great and all gays I know can't dance to save their lives. Then again I mostly hang with masculine gays so the prissy type is out of question. Waiting for the "Mary" guy to come after me now...

You need to grow up! You need to be slapped on the face often.

7,8m second weekend. Total: $23,695,601

Love, Simon is well on its way to becoming Fox's highest grossing LGBT picture.

See you NEVER, The Object of My Affection!

So what’s the next big gay movie? I desperately want Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe to be made, but I can just imagine how it would get fucked up. Rather than second generation Mexican American families in El Paso, it would probably get changed to be rich white families in Southern California.

[quote]So what’s the next big gay movie?

Boy Erased is the one that is hoping to get awards season love.

There will probably be some interesting LGB films coming out of Cannes; the schedule gets released in a couple of weeks.

I'd like to see Cameron Crowe do a gay movie.

The Rhodes Twins biopic is probably going to be nominated for a few Academy Awards.

I guess this is one movie where you wouldn't know it was underperforming if you live in NY or LA where it's doing exceedingly well.

I saw it today. Loved it more than CMBYN. The movie is actually funny and touching, and the lead is adorable. The cast is very photogenic, especially his secret crush.

I liked it way better than CMBYN, too. Saw it twice!

I saw it again Friday evening, the crowd wasn't as vocal but there were some cheers when Blue's identity was revealed, and applause at the end.

Simon came in with $7.8 million this weekend (a drop of 32% from last weekend) bringing its domestic box office to just under $24 million. Simon is doing solid box office based on the estimated $17 million production budget. The film will easily make the $34 million domestically it needs just to get into a profit making zone. Ideally if the film makes close to $50 million (3 times the production budget) Fox would be thrilled, but I think it will end around the $40 million mark.

Now, I'm very pessimistic that Simon will start a sea change in Hollywood about releasing more LGBT films in a mainstream way. The feeling I'm getting is that Love, Simon is being viewed as "doing alright, but it should have been bigger." If Simon had performed like I Can Only Imagine, you bet other studios would be rushing to get on board. Sadly we're going to see a slew of lower budget Christian movies coming out over the next few years to capitalize.

I'm going to be honest and say part of the problem is the community is so fractured and divided over what representation means, that not enough people support these films when they come out. We see it on this thread: "a gay actor should have played simon," "it's not realistic" etc. Christian groups flock to films targeted towards them regardless of their quality. It's something of a political act for them. There are two christian films in the top 10 this week so Hollywood is going to start cranking them out. So frankly, we have no one to blame but ourselves as LGBT films return to their limited art house runs.

R447 I agree. It's sad. It should be doing better but unfortunately gay audiences do not come out and support gay projects.

It helped that the "Christian" movie was actually more of a musical biopic centered around a very popular song, and it starred famous actors such as Dennis Quaid and Cloris Leachman.

But the Christian groups make a calculated effort to go support these movies, to make them a success. Gay people just bitch about the real life sexuality of the actors.

[quote]Gay people just bitch about the real life sexuality of the actors.

You mean the people who actually watched the movie and are discussing it online? They are the problem?

Maybe try all the gay people who completely ignored this movie if you want to start somewhere.

Love, Simon is doing fine, and stop comparing it to a Christian film. These are apples and oranges. The reality is that sadly, in most cases , so called Christians condone the mistreatment of the gays, so their kind flock to see films about them especially when a film about 'those people' are out at the same time.

Baby steps. Some of you are so hyper and anxious for a Titanic blockbuster gay film. It's not going to happen anytime soon, especially here in trumplandia. Let's take our successes as they come and keep building up on it. And it doesn't hurt when people say that this gay film was better than the other gay film. This does NOT help our case. Support ALL gay films.

Jeez!

I meant to write: And it doesn't HELP when...

The opening weekend box office for "Love Simon" was a little disappointing, they were hoping for me. But its second weekend hold was strong.

Gay projects aren't going to do gangbusters sadly. We all remember when "Looking" was cancelled for poor ratings. Same thing happened to "The New Normal", "Partners", "Crumbs" and many other shows recently.

R449 Yes, the fact that I Can Only Imagine was based on a popular song helped, however, another Christian film entitled Paul, Apostle of Christ came out this weekend and exceeded expectations coming in 8th (right behind Love, Simon) with a total weekend gross of $5 million in only 1400 theaters on a $3.5 million budget. R450 is right that clearly there seems to be a trend of Christian groups going out and supporting these films.

R454 it wasn't that Love, Simon's opening weekend was disappointing because it was slightly above Fox's initial projection of a $10 million opening weekend. The disappointment was that the first indications were from the previews that ran on Saturday March 10 and Thursday March 15, that the film was going to outperform given higher than expected ticket sales. What ended up happening was I Can Only Imagine came out of nowhere and out blew away expectations and did so playing only half the number of theaters Simon was playing in.

Maybe it's because gay people are more involved with the arts, stereotypical I know, and are more picky? I agree with R447 that while Love, Simon is doing ok, but in cash obsessed Hollywood I don't if that'll be enough. I honestly feel that in order for the film to prove to Hollywood the time had come to mainstream LGBT films, it would have had to exceed expectations. The good news is though Love Simon has in 10 days exceed the box office of recent LGBT films like Call Me By Your Name, Carol and the Danish Girl, and likely will beat out Moonlight within a few more days.

Half of the 'Moonlight' and 'CMBYN' box office came from worldwide release, so if the trend continues the movie should hit $50 million mark.

R457 CMBYN is about $17.8 million domestically and $36 million worldwide. Moonlight made $27.8 million domestically and $65 million world wide.

Love, Simon has already exceeded CMBYN's domestic and will surpass Moonlight's domestic by the weekend. I'm guessing Simon will make about $40 - $45 million domestically.

R457 Scott Mendelson of Forbes has predicted Simon will earn about $40 million at the domestic box office which is good haul on a budget of $17 million. Simon is having a slow international release so we won't know until the end of the summer but it should take in at least $20 million internationally. Totally box office will around $60 million or higher so it's fine and right on par with other recent teenage targeted films.

One thing is I don't buy the BS that this film is being used to provide Hollywood with proof LGBT films can be mainstream successes. There have already been a number LGBT films that have done great box office in mainstream releases like Birdcage, Brokeback, The Imitation Game, The Crying Game, In & Out, Philadelphia etc. The problem is Hollywood exes often dismiss successful "minority films" as being flukes. Frankly even if Simon was a runaway hit, I don't think we'd see a slew of new LGBT films.

I don't want el-jibbity films. I want gay ones. More ones and better ones.

Those two Christian films have congregations buying tickets in bulk. Literally, these churches are busing their members to see these films.

Shame on these studios for trying to make the evangelicals even more of a powerhouse.

Buying out a whole theater for a single screening of a single movie? Leapin' lizards!

R460 it's not the studios that are trying to make them a powerhouse. These Christian films are low budget limited release films but what has happened is Christian groups have rallied around them to ensure they make money so studios will make more of them.

For whatever reason, the LGBT community doesn't seem to want to rally around films targeted to them.

R462: That's because they only have a vague idea of what we want to see in movies, and only now are they starting to get it.

And the AMPAS needs to clean house if a truly great movie like [italic]BPM[/italic] gets no nomination for the Best Foreign-Language Film award only to have it end up going to some vaguely misogynistic trans-propaganda.

Despite its mainstream status, [italic]Love, Simon[/italic] is more revolutionary than a lot of art house-targeted gay movies because it is more critical of jenn-durr; it shows that whether we are masculine, feminine, or epicine, gay men are men.

R463 To be honest I don't know if Love, Simon is revolutionary. Certainly it's the first coming of age type film to center on a gay character and get a wide release from the get go, but like R458 said there were a number of films in the 90s and early 00s that were given wide releases and did very well.

One issue that Love, Simon faces is that it's largely geared towards a teenage audience. The problem is, studios are having a hard time getting teenagers into movie theaters. Teenagers are increasingly hooked on seeing films digitally and so the teenage market is no longer the lucrative market it was even a decade ago. Most teenager geared films seem to cap around the $40 million mark these days.

I'm actually surprised this film cost 17 million. I mean, it could easily have been done under 10 mil. Unless those 17 mil. also include promotion. I have seen articles that put the actual budget at 10 million, so I have always assumed 17mil included the promotion.

Since theaters take a chunk of the sales, the rule of thumb is that domestically movies have to make 2.5 times the budget of the film to break even.

17 x 2.5 = [bold]42.5[/bold] million

Anything above 42.5 is Box Office profit. Of course, it will probably make money out of overseas, digital, and InDemand sales.

No r465, 17 million is the production budget. Studios don't release how much they spend on marketing cost, the estimate is that studios will generally spend about half the cost of the film on marketing.

How on Earth does a basic coming out film with no major stars cost $17million!? That's astonishing.

R467 movie making ain't cheap. $17 million sounds about right given the location shooting, the large cast, the large number of extras, the use of popular music, the whole carnival scene etc.

Ugh! Then, Greg Berlanti is an idiot. First, he doesn't cast a gay lead and second he fucked up the budget in a production that was filmed in Atlanta. The number one reason film studios are filming in Georgia is to screw the crew, contractors, and actors out of a decent pay.

As LaLaLand proved (it was fucking filmed in Los Angeles) smart financing is the key.

Now instead of being a minor hit, "Love, Simon" will be an underperformer.

r468 I'm sure you're right, it's just astonishing to me if that is the sort of money it now takes to make a small drama film with no major stars or an A-list director.

Just to compare, here's the budgets for other recent gay films: CMBYN ($3.5million), God's Own Country ($1.4million), Moonlight ($1.5million).

[quote]it's just astonishing to me if that is the sort of money it now takes to make a small drama film with no major stars or an A-list director.

Hon, it doesn't take 17 million to make a small film anywhere in the US. It's a myth. Berlanti was just an idiot and apparently the wrong director for this film.

[quote]Hon, it doesn't take 17 million to make a small film anywhere in the US. It's a myth. Berlanti was just an idiot and apparently the wrong director for this film.

Agreed. Lady Bird, for example, filmed in California, had a pop soundtrack, and a well-known cast. It’s budget? $10m.

Finally have watched this. The movie is enjoyable feel good entertainment, though ultimately slight. Still, it does feel like an important movie culturally. A very mainstream and accessible for all audiences gay story, I'm sure it would mean a lot more to me if I was some closeted highschooler.

When it starts off talking about "I am just like you", though I did roll my eyes as most people aren't fortunate enough to come from families as financially well-off, happy and generally perfect. And most kids who need this movie aren't as popular as the Simon character either. It seemed oddly blind to privilege of its protagonist.

Still, it is a good film to have in the world. If I saw it while I was in highschool I'd imagine it would have been powerful for me.

[quote]Jennifer Garner deserves a nomination for this film.

No need to exaggerate.

An honest, pragmatic review, R474.

And I know they wanted some Hollywood big, romantic ending...but Simon trying to publicly force Blue to meet him on the Ferris Wheel in front of the whole school is every bit as cringey as what the straight dork character did to the black girl.

[quote]These Christian films are low budget limited release films but what has happened is Christian groups have rallied around them to ensure they make money so studios will make more of them.... For whatever reason, the LGBT community doesn't seem to want to rally around films targeted to them.

Dude stop bitching, there are a billion Christians in this world. Can't say the same for Gays. There are Christian congregations that make an afternoon going to these "faith" films. Last time I checked there weren't any gay congregations. Unfortunately there is still fear and some gays won't go out to a movie to see it but they will definitely buy the DVD. "Love Simon" is a hit. Relax.

[quote] Simon trying to publicly force Blue to meet him on the Ferris Wheel in front of the whole school is every bit as cringey as what the straight dork character did to the black girl.

With at least one small difference. Blue had the option not to show up and not to face the crowd.

Beck Albertalli who wrote the novel has implied that Fox has just purchased the movie rights to her upcoming Simon sequel novel called Leah on the Off Beat which focuses on Simon's best friend Leah who comes out as bisexual. Doesn't mean anything will ever come of it, but at least it's a sign that Fox is happy with Love, Simon's box office.

I was dragged to see Love, Simon and it was charming. It's sweet & gentle, with good actors in all the roles. Go see for yourself. xxxx

Oh, a bisexual female; that’ll be ground-breaking. And she’s kinda fat, TBH.

Interesting that Keiynan talks about how he kept himself in the closet until the end of filming.

[quote]Was that a surprise to the cast and crew? Had you come out to them previously? It's kind of interesting. I was out to my cast at The Flash, I was out to some family and a lot of friends, but I went into this film, and I still hid myself from everyone. I didn't know how to be myself, and I didn't tell them. I was in a relationship at the time with a guy, and I didn't even tell them that. It took me until the last day, until wrap time, to tell my cast. And I remember that made me really upset. I was speaking to one of my friends and I was like, "I don't know why I'm so scared. I'm on a LGBT film, playing this character, there's a gay director, everyone is so supportive. I couldn't be in a better environment. And my friend, she sort of just advised, "Don't be down on yourself. Maybe reflect on that." [And I thought,] wow, that's really interesting that I have all of these perfect things in place that I thought would make me feel comfortable but I still haven't figured it out. And so that made me think a lot. It made me really dig deep, and I realized that I was harboring shame. Despite having accepted myself, I realized, like, I'm not embracing this. I've just accepted [that] this is who I am, and looking at it as though I have to deal with this thing that I have.

[quote]How did you come out to the cast and crew on that final day? Before we got to the afterparty, we just went out for drinks. Like, all the cast and I. I don't even know how I said it, but I just said it to the group, and they were of course really supportive and I explained to them that I wish I had said something earlier. It was great. It's an interesting thing to go through that kind of growth and learn those lessons while your character is also learning those lessons. I'm very thankful for it.

R479 I was just thinking about. The book comes out in April, so it would make perfect material for a sequel of sort. And Leah is played by Katherine Langford, who's an up and comer with a following, so having her be the main character should be an easy sell to the studio if the box office for Love, Simon holds up.

For all those posters who think it's unrealistic for Simon to be in the closet or stugglng to come out in this day and age, please carefully read r482

But that's not the sequel we want to see. We want to see

[quote] "Love, Simon 2: College Bound" -- College freshman Simon Spier begins to feel "all funny down there" when he meets his English Lit Professor, Armie Hammer, and his Math Professor, Aaron Cage.

ROFL, R485!

R485 The sequel you want to see would be a Helix Studio production.

R476 it felt very contrived, it reminded me of the Drew Barrymore movie, Never Been Kissed.

r488 I haven't seen LOVE, SIMON yet, but reading that description immediately reminded me of NEVER BEEN KISSED. Love that movie.

I just wanted to address a couple things about Love, Simon's box office. There seems to be a lot of back and forth in this thread about it being successful or a flop. I worked in film distribution for a decade and tracking box office was part of my job.

The thing to understand how much money a film makes at the box office isn't always indicative of how successful/profitable the film is. Nowadays, with decreased ticket sales, faster film turn over in theaters leading to shorter theatrical runs, soaring marketing costs and an increasingly crowded film market, most films that hit theaters actually don't make a profit during their initial theatrical run. One example that has been cited frequently is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In 2008 Warner Brother's financial documents had leaked and despite costing $150 million and bringing in nearly $1 billion worldwide, Warner Brothers was still in the red with the film to the tune of almost $200 million. The reason for this is putting a film into theaters is expensive. For example, you've got marketing costs which can often be nearly as much if not more than the film's production budget, then you've distribution fees to get the film into theaters, you also have to pay interest to your investors who help fund the film etc. Going back to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix WB's financial information showed it cost $150 million to make the film, $120 million to market it, $95 million to distribute it, and there were over $60 million of interest paid to investors, so it cost them over $400 million to make and it out into the theaters. Then when the film has completed it's run you have to pay back you investors with an agreed upon profit percentage which again cuts into your profit margins. Increasingly even successful films don't turn a profit until digital media. TV/streaming sales are completed.

Rule of thumb for box office. Studios keep about 40% to 55% of box domestic box office and international box office can fluctuate from as low as 10 to 20% or as high as 30% depending on distribution deals. For years domestic box office was the most important factor in earning money back. Today due to reduced domestic ticket sales, international box office has become far more important. Increasingly studios are focusing on international markets in order to make up for dwindling domestic takes.

So as of this morning Simon has raked in $23.7 million dollars after a two week on an estimated production budget of $17 million. I means Fox has recouped the production costs which they will be happy about. A film that doesn't earn back its production costs within 10 days of its release is seen as under performing. Simon might not be viewed as a run away hit, but it can be seen as a solid performer that will in the long run earn profit for Fox and at the end of the day that's all that matter to them.

The problem with Hollywood is that they look at quick money opportunities. So while Love, Simon is a solid performing film, Studios will be far more interested in emulating the success of I Can Only Imagine due to it's unexpected run away status.

R490 do you know, it used to be underperforming movies could also make a big profit from video sales/rentals. Do you know is this still the case? People renting movies for a dollar from redbox and streaming has to have hurt this, at least some.

R489 I liked that movie, and the ending worked because it was a silly light hearted comedy. Love Simon is still a good movie, but I think it was marketed as a romantic comedy but it really isn't.

I wonder if the movie cost something like $5 million, which seems much more reasonable, and Greg paid himself $12million for directing it.

[quote] Ugh! Then, Greg Berlanti is an idiot. First, he doesn't cast a gay lead and second he fucked up the budget in a production that was filmed in Atlanta. The number one reason film studios are filming in Georgia is to screw the crew, contractors, and actors out of a decent pay.

God, you're a moron. The reason people shoot in Georgia is that it has a really good tax credit program. You shoot there, employ the people who live there as crew and come cast, pour money into their towns and help the economy and the state of Georgia will give you a tax credit. With studios, the credit is usually rolled into the next film that shoots there from the same studio. For independent producers who may not be coming back to that same location any time soon, there are brokers who will buy your tax credit and sell it to someone else who is about to shoot there.

No one is screwing any crew people. A film that budget will employ all union cast and crew and they get paid the same as they would if they were shooting in LA.

And no, Greg can't pay himself $12m on a $17m budget film. Greg doesn't pay himself anything. He's not financing the film. And no one would agree to a movie with that kind of budget disparity. At least not on Greg Berlanti. If you were making, say, an $8m film and you hired a box office star to be in it and paid them $4m of that $8m budget, that would make sense. They are a box office draw and they likely mean international pre-sale money. Greg Berlanti means none of those things.

R491 You're correct that the rule used to be that if a film flopped or under performed that it would be quickly turned over to video/rental sales this is no longer the case. Nowadays the period between theatrical and media release is much quicker. Part of that is due to technological change but the bigger reason is to capitalize on profits by having the film out at the tail end of it's theatrical release. Even for successful movies, the typical turn over for films now is three months from theatrical release to being available on digital media and usually three and half months for physical media to be released.

When a film is first released on digital platforms like iTunes or Google Play, for about three weeks you can only purchase them not rent them. The first three weeks of films release into media is the most profitable and digital costs very little to produce and distribute so this is pure profit for them. So in today's market getting a film into profit is a more of packaged thing rather than just box office.

Believe it or not $17 million is actually low budget for a studio film. Studio films like Love, Simon and independent films like CMBYN are apples and oranges. A studio film is made to have mass appeal and to make money. Studios have access to large corporate investors who are willing to sink a lot of money into projects hoping for a high rate of return. Independent films are usually funded by grants and small investors and are mostly made for artistic reasons.

I find it rather strange that some poster, or posters, insist that you are supposed to screw your own production and produce it as cheap as possible in order to be able to declare something a hit or make it a bigger hit than some other release.

I believe thats's the very thinking, at least I hope, guys like Berlanti want to get away from. Pay people a decent salary (equal pay for women?) and release a decent movie. This whole WINNING obession is just toxic and quite frankly takes the fun and appreciation out of everything.

I mean do we still need to feel validated through celebrities and success of movies? Why can't we just like or appreciate things, because we like and appreciate them and not because they are "cool" and validate one's own insecurity (it's only ok to be gay when people, who matter, approve of it)?

Things that make money inspire studios to want to make more movies like that r495.

r496, that works for pretty much everything except for gay movies. See: Brokeback Mountain.

Hollywood makes up its own rules.

R497 Not just gay movies, Hollywood does this to other groups too like women or African Americans. Despite the fact that that ton of "minority" films have done good box office, Hollywood often treats these films like they were a fluke. Brokeback Moutain, The Birdcage, The Imitation Game or all examples of LGBT films that have done strong box office and yet Hollywood were dismissive of them. That's why I'm hesitant to say Love, Simon is going to change things.

Atlanta was the right place to film because it's still a big deal to come out and black is still the overriding taboo.

[quote] because it's still a big deal to come out

The whole point of this film was to emphasize how anywhere is still a big deal to come out, it doesn't matter how seemingly accepting the environment around you his. It's still hard and nerve-wracking.

Shocker: DL fave has a problem with "Love, Simon"

*sigh* If only Simon had gained 30lbs, dyed his hair purple and talked endlessly about colonialism, body hair fascism and heteronormativity! We're talking box office receipts of literally dozens of dollars!

And again, he bashes the masculine gays despite that being the only dick he wants.

F501 What a douche.

I know.

More celebrities buying out showings of "Love, Simon".

[quote] Jennifer Garner is offering a free showing of her new movie, Love, Simon, in Charleston, West Virginia (her hometown) this weekend. Garner announced on her Instagram account, that the showing will be 6:55 PM on Saturday, March 31st, 2018 at Park Place Stadium Cinemas.

also

[quote] Lions midfielder Sacha Kljestan joins a growing list of celebrities who are buying out screenings of Love, Simon at theaters across the country.... The Orlando City midfielder and his wife, Jamie Lee Darley, bought out a showing of Love, Simon at Regal Winter Park Cinemas for an upcoming Thursday showing

How low the NYT has sunk to give that screeching shithead Tobia an op-ed. Glad to see nearly all the comments drag him for his garbage opinion.

R493, god you're a moron. Re-read the thread you idiot, we already talked about tax credits/sweet deal which are actually not that uncommon in other states. It is no secret crews and private contractors are royally getting screwed.

[quote]The thing to understand how much money a film makes at the box office isn't always indicative of how successful/profitable the film is

We know that, still, studios want to recuperate their cost in the box office. It's still a benchmark.

r501 I saw the LGBT history account on Instagram posted the link to it as a story. I can't imagine any other minority group being so counter productive and self deprecating.

R501 isn't that writer extremely homophobic? He labels himself queer. There was a thread about him using the word "fag" in his private life a few years ago.

Youtuber Zach's reaction to Love, Simon. He rambles a bit, but overall makes sense.

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER cost $13million in 2012, so I guess this film's budget isn't so over the top. Still a huge amount of money for basically a small drama.

So, Easter weekend box office projections have Love, Simon earning between $4.5 and $5 million. The film will likely drop to 8th or even 9th place. There is some uncertainty on how Tomb Raider and another new christian film, God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, will perform. A few forecasts have the new christian movie out performing Simon by a few thousand dollars.

R511 Not bad...the good news is the film will have made back it's entire production budget by next week and it hasn't even gone international yet!

For the promotion of the London premiere, they placed an actual ferries wheel in Leicester Square

That's cute.

The movie is cute.

I can't understand why anyone would bash the movie.

Just go see it. Recommend it to your friends and family and coworkers.

I've been spreading good word of mouth

[quote]Love, Simon has already exceeded CMBYN's domestic and will surpass Moonlight's domestic by the weekend. I'm guessing Simon will make about $40 - $45 million domestically.

Don't compare it to Moonlight. Moonlight is an indie that cost just 1.5 million. Love Simon is mainstream and while no one was expecting Fault in Our Stars numbers, I think it's on track to match other similar movies like Perks of Being a Wallflower.

It is performing a bit better than Everything, Everything that ended with 34m last year

At this point EE was at $23,848,026 while Simon is at $25,417,636

It's silly to compare it to "Call Me by Your Name" or "Moonlight". Those were arthouse independent films.

The whole point of this movie is that rather than having gay movies be indies, they are trying to have a mainstream gay film.

I can't either, r514. We seem to be mired in an era in which people whine, bitch, moan, and complain about everything under the sun. It's disheartening at times. The Jacob Tobia review in the NYT made me shake my head.

Yes, r518. In terms of profit margins, CMBYN and especially Moonlight outperformed expectations because of their tiny budgets

[quote]The Jacob Tobia review in the NYT made me shake my head, stick my finger down my throat, vomit, and then cancel my NYT digital subscription. And I still feel somewhat nauseated.

Fixed.

Jacob Tobia is a deplorable.

Keiynan Lonsdale's (Bram) new song "Kiss the Boy".

Hmmm Simon is currently at $27,340,794 as of 3/29.

If it needs to make 42.5 million to recoup its money in the theatrical run [17mil x 2.5 = 42.5mil], the movie might just do it, then I can see studios thinking of it as a success because 1) they didn't lose money in the actual theatrical run, 2) with no deficit, a greater percentage of the DVD/digital sales will go to the studio, and 3) giving its success you can predict that OnDemand/streaming/tv right sales will give the movie a long life post theatrical release, netting the studio even more money over the long run.

It needs to make that 42.5 benchmark domestically.

It just $15,159,249 from 42.5 million <3

Surely it can net that before theaters drop the film below 1000 screens.

SF Examiner gave the film 4 Stars - highest rating, and deserves it.

GO SEE IT BEFORE IT LEAVES THEATERS, PEOPLE!

The film has made double its budget production budget from domestic box office alone, the film is a success - stop worrying. Rule of thumb (as has been discussed several times on this thread) bare minimum a film needs to make twice its production budget just to break even. The film will likely end its domestic run with between $40 and 45 million. Love, Simon hasn't even debuted internationally yet but will likely make $20 million+ internationally.

I just saw it with my husband and 2 other gay friends. It was probably one of the best gay themed movies that came out in a while. It is light and warm, and frankly the reviewers are not wrong in comparing it to the work of the late John Hughes. It feels like what would happen if 16 candles was remade from the gay point of view. Overall, not bad at all. Kudos to Mr. Robbie Rogers.

If you wanna further support this movie, you can pre-order a DVD/BluRay disc on Amazon or just write a review.

I don’t quite understand the calls to “support” this particular movie. I saw it, it was cute, but I don’t think gay people should have any obligation to see it. It’s not in the same league as Moonlight or Call Me By Your Name.

[quote]It’s not in the same league as Moonlight or Call Me By Your Name.

Or "God's Own Country". I saw this in theaters and liked it, but not going to buy it. It's not the kinda movie I need to rewatch and appreciate all the details of the film-making.

R531, you're what's wrong with the world. You really don't get it.

R533, well, explain. You’ve made multiple posts saying we need to support this movie. Not gay cinema in general, but this movie. Why are you so invested in it? Why this film and not other gay movies?

[quote] you're what's wrong with the world.

Our heart breaks at this injustice.

This is the first MAJOR STUDIO film to have a gay central character and be about gay themes. This isn't an art film. It's mainstream. SO DUH, yes, we should support it... if you ever want to see any more mainstream major studio pictures with lead gay characters.

Seriously, this isn't rocket science. How can you not GET this?

[quote] I saw it, it was cute, but I don’t think gay people should have any obligation to see it.

They should IF they want more good quality gay themed, mainstream films. "Black Panther" didn't become this huge success, because black people were like "yeah, it's cute, but I don't think black people have any obligation to see it!".

R537 became hugely successful because it was entertaining as hell.

R536 First teen romantic comedy with a gay lead character, definitely NOT the first gay themed movie from a major studio. I do remember thinking how groundbreaking this was when I watched the trailer.

R538, name another mainstream gay themed movie with a gay lead character from a major studio.

I'm 45 and I almost bought a ticket but just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm not in high school (looks from the trailers it's a high school movies) and I have too much pride to be the only middle-aged guy sitting in a theatre full of high school kids. Too embarrassing.I buy DVDs in bunches but I fear if/when I buy it, it will join the ones I bought I couple of years back that I still haven't gotten round to watching.

I'm just grateful that the last couple of years has brought us 'Moonlight' and 'Call Me By Your Name', two films that could be legitimately labelled among the best artistic achievements of the decade.

R540 the theater I went to had several parents, but it was all women and teenage girls, it was pretty awkward

Yikes! r541. Fraus and fangurls.

[quote]This is the first MAJOR STUDIO film to have a gay central character and be about gay themes

I think that was MAKING LOVE back in 1982. Even that probably wasn't the first.

Philadelphia, R539

[quote]It’s not in the same league as Moonlight

Thank GOD.

The Birdcage. In and Out.

Well, can we say it's the first major studio film in the 21st-century?

To anyone feeling self-conscious about going to this movie by yourself, even if the crowd is teenagers or women, I say: just go. Pick a seat off to the side if you have to and just enjoy the movie. Nobody will pay any attention to you.

Just look at your phone and ignore everyone else until the movie starts. It's no big deal

R548 has it right.

R540, you're kind of pathetic.

You wouldn't have been alone. But why the fuck do you care so much about what people you don't know might think? Jesus. Total closet-case behavior. Grow up. You kinda NEED to see this movie. IN A THEATER.

> I think that was MAKING LOVE back in 1982. Even that probably wasn't the first.

> Philadelphia

The first was depressing about how homosexuality tears apart marriages (really, it wasn't very pro-gay), and the second was an AIDS movie, again, depressing.

They were "event movies", "very special episode" movies, ham-fisted movies. Nothing like Love, Simon.

"Kind of," R550. More like "shriekingly, fatally, ineluctably."

r551 Sure, but they were made 25-35 years ago and they were made by a major studio. No one's arguing that LOVE, SIMON isn't a nice and uplifting movie, just that it obviously isn't the first major studio movie to have gay main characters/themes.

While Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name were both good movies, neither one of them has had the societal impact as Love, Simon. Young LGBTs are coming out to their friends and families in droves as a result of Simon. Countless others are loudly cheering in theaters in support of Simon. The film is making lives better for us all. The same cannot be said for the other two films.

R553 The gays in those movies are plot devices for shock or pity. Those movie did not examine the lives of gay people, just that they exist to ruin hetero marriages or are objects of pity for getting sick.

r555 Maybe, but they shouldn't be dismissed so easily. They were major studio films made 25-35 years ago with gay central characters and themes. I'm sure some people will be dismissive of LOVE, SIMON in 25-35 years time. Everything looks dated eventually.

[quote]The film is making lives better for us all. The same cannot be said for the other two films.

How the hell can you know that? What a ridiculous statement. How do you know there’s not a young black kid out there seeing Moonlight and it giving him courage? He doesn’t even have to be black, it could be just any young gayling seeing a movie that speaks to them. Same for CMBYN- you don’t think there are people out there identifying with Elio or Chiron?

Sorry toots— Love Simon is a cute little comedy, but it’s not the damned second coming. It hasn’t done a damn thing to make life ‘better’ for gay people other than lighten our wallets. Moonlight and CMBYN are going to be remembered far longer and will influence a lot more future writers and filmmakers than LS.

R557 has evidently failed to read any of the countless reports on every social media platform of people coming out due to Simon. On top of that, people are bonding with family and friends as parents and their children of all ages are watching Simon together. Moonlight and Call Me did not have that impact on audiences . You may turn your nose up at Simon but the movie is deeply affecting for millions of people.

r558 = Greg Berlanti

[quote]How do you know there’s not a young black kid out there seeing Moonlight and it giving him courage? He doesn’t even have to be black, it could be just any young gayling seeing a movie that speaks to them. Same for CMBYN- you don’t think there are people out there identifying with Elio or Chiron?

If I were a young black gayling, I might stay in for a few more years after watching act 3 of Moonlight.

People seem to get REALLY personally invested in films and their success these days, in ways that they never seemed to more than a few years ago. It's not just gay films like this or CMBYN where people are so eagerly following its financial success and its Rotten Tomatoes score and its CinemaScore and talk about the film like PR shills or accountants; you get exactly the same thing when you read threads here and elsewhere about Marvel or DC films or whatever. It's great that people are that passionate about films, but the level of personal investment strikes me as a curiously modern phenomenon.

Wonder now if r558 is either a paid shill or another slavering fanatic like the God’s Own Country lunatic.

It’s just a movie honey.

R558 is right. Neither CMBYN nor Moonlight are all that relatable for your average gayling in high school. This movie makes a difference for the young gays.

My 8th grade daughter and her friends are going to see it tonight.

Here's an international release schedule for the movie. I think it may be incomplete.

The movie has a Russian title, but I didn't find a release date.

R565 Interesting... how come no Japan or South Korea?

Scott Evans tweeted this text message from his mother after she finished watching Love, Simon. Her words and feelings in response to the film are very common among parents with gay children.

Dave Holmes posted a very touching Twitter thread about his 85 year old mother's reaction to the film.

Love, Simon is connecting with all types of audiences as there are plenty of other people who feel the same way as these two moms.

You can find touching stories for anything. Everyone who has ever played gay loves talking about the letters they get from people who say they helped them come out. Love Simon didn't invent this wheel dear.

It was cute and sweet. Duhamel was hot. I was distracted by Nick Robinson's deep forehead wrinkles and Jennifer Garner's face (but she was fine). I was happy he found a nice and cute boyfriend...even though they will be broken up by freshman year or college!

R568, damn boy, this movie is hitting a lot of true notes that are connecting with a lot of different people.

Let's enjoy the ride, and the afterglow many are feeling.

I bet this movie really pisses off Ryan Murphy.

The Ferris wheel was a step too far, but otherwise it was cute.

R571 Why? He made many gay characters, both HS and otherwise, so popular and commonplace so that a safe, basic little movie like Love, Simon could exist.

R573 Glee is too tainted with controversies and tragedies to ever get much acknowledge in the future.

I purchased the digital download, loved it!

[quote]I don’t quite understand the calls to “support” this particular movie. I saw it, it was cute, but I don’t think gay people should have any obligation to see it. It’s not in the same league as Moonlight or Call Me By Your Name.

Omg, I hope you’re not being serious!

Honestly, who cares how old you are to see “Love, Simon”? It’s a wonderful movie, and you will have a lovely time watching it. I went to go see, “Ready player One”...which is obviously a teen film, but I saw many seniors and older audiences watching it.

Just go!

R576, I was serious in the post you quoted. The reactions from some fans of this movie are so over the top. I’d rather see money spent to support higher quality filmmaking.

[quote]The reactions from some fans of this movie are so over the top.

I'm not convinced these "fans" aren't people who are involved in the movie in some way. Because yes, the reaction is obsessively over the top.

"LOVE SIMON HAS ENDED HOMOPHOBIA, CREATED AN UNLIMITED SUPPLY OF TOPS AND MADE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE-EAST. YOU MUST SEE IT 3X IN THEATERS AND BUY THE BLU-RAY FOR EVERYONE YOU KNOW"

It is a pleasant piece of fluff and nothing else. It will not be the gay Black Panther.

[quote]"LOVE SIMON HAS ENDED HOMOPHOBIA, CREATED AN UNLIMITED SUPPLY OF TOPS AND MADE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE-EAST. YOU MUST SEE IT 3X IN THEATERS AND BUY THE BLU-RAY FOR EVERYONE YOU KNOW

You’re not gay, if you didn’t see it at theaters.

Love, Simon brought in an estimated 4.8 million this weekend and kept its place at number 7!

That should bring it's total estimated domestic box office to over $32 million. Do we have any info on how it's doing in Australia?

It seems it does batter on Fridays than Sundays. They always overestimate the weekend after Friday numbers.

The Australian box office numbers aren't in yet.

My husband and I saw the film last weekend, We are both in our 50s (and far from the desired demographic). I wish that this sort of positive mainstream movie was available in the 70s when we were coming out,

A 21-yo co-worker took her African-American grandmother to Love, Simon last weekend, and then came out to her afterward. Grandma is still dealing with the news, but I have to applaud my coworker for the courage take Grannie to the movie and coming out.

What do you consider "higher quality filmmaking," R578? It is sitting at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, the second best score in the top 10. Does Black Panther's 97% meet your criteria?

People should actually learn what RT means. Rotten Tomatoes gives the percentage of critics that overall liked a movie.

You'll notice when it comes to the actual score critics rate it, "Love, Simon" has a 7.5/10, which is fair.

By comparison Moonlight has a 9/10, CMBYM has a 8.7 and God's Own Country has a 8.2

None of those films broke out much beyond the art house circuit, though, R588. Moonlight is known more for the envelope snafu than for its characters and story. At least Call Me has the occasional peach joke to mark its contribution to society.

MOONLIGHT made 16 times its $4million budget at the box office, though. LOVE, SIMON would have to make $272million to match that.

R575 If people do this or at least rent it, they still support the film, right?

Hold on, you can already download the film online??

Liisten, word of mouth is keeping this movie going. Kids in middle school and high school have been telling their friends about it. Weekend shows at my local theater have been packed.

With reserve-seat theaters, you can go on line before show time and see how the movie is doing...

I'd like to see it again in the theater just so I can see Nick/Simon all wet and clad only in a towel again. His glistening torso and perky nipples are sweet on the big screen.

[quote]I'd like to see it again in the theater just so I can see Nick/Simon all wet and clad only in a towel again. His glistening torso and perky nipples are sweet on the big screen.

Nick’s very cute — what a smile — but like Timmy C, he doesn’t have much of a body.

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