NBCUniversal

Luke Macfarlane and Billy Eichner as Aaron and Bobby, Bros
Luke Macfarlane and Billy Eichner as Aaron and Bobby, Bros

SUMMARY

This year saw a vast improvement for LGBTQ inclusion in NBCUniversal films. Within the theatrically distributed films from Universal, both Bros and Nope were GLAAD Media Award nominees, with Bros taking home the award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release. Bros featured a diverse and sizeable LGBTQ cast, while Nope boasted a Black lesbian lead. Both films premiered in thousands of theaters and included queer people front and center, which is what GLAAD has been advocating for since this report’s inception. There is still room for improvement within Universal films, such as the Jurassic World franchise’s inclusion of a character that may be read as queer via subtext but whose sexuality is not expliticly confirmed in the film. 

Universal’s arthouse label Focus Features released GLAAD Media Award nominees Spoiler Alert and Tár, both with queer leads. Spoiler Alert is a heartfelt drama centered on a gay couple, while Tár gives viewers an extremely flawed lesbian anti-hero. Focus has a rich history of promoting LGBTQ films and this year is no exception. Streamer Peacock only released one LGBTQ-inlcusive film this year, queer slasher They/Them. Though the movie featured a diverse cast of LGBTQ characters, the messaging of the film sadly missed the mark. 

Universal is setting an example by having LGBTQ leads in major studio wide released films, which play in big cities and small towns around the globe, and for queer representation in each of their subsidiaries as well. We hope to see this continue and increase in volume over the next several years, especially in stories highlighting the full diversity of the LGBTQ community including race, gender, ability and more. As Peacock grows, we also hope to see further inclusive movies announced in their original film slate.

HISTORY

Universal Pictures is one of the oldest film studios in the United States, founded in 1912. In 2004, Universal merged with NBC to form NBCUniversal, which was purchased by Comcast in 2011. NBCUniversal owns Focus Features, a film production and distribution company that was founded in 2002 by USA Films, Universal Focus, and Good Machine. Universal acquired DreamWorks Animation from 20th Century in 2016 and released their first film under that umbrella in February 2019. The studio’s previous releases tend to focus on mass appeal films such as Jaws, E.T., the Bourne series, and the ongoing Fast and the Furious franchise. 

Universal did not begin releasing LGBTQ-inclusive films until the 1990s, and its 1991 adaptation of Fried Green Tomatoes removed the majority of the novel’s lesbian content. Universal’s LGBTQ representation has had its many highs and lows, as shown in films such as To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995),  Mulholland Drive  (2001),  I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007),  Bruno  (2009),  Scott Pilgrim vs. The World  (2010),  Kick-Ass 2  (2013),  Riddick  (2013),  Legend  (2015),  Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising  (2016), Blockers (2018), and Last Christmas and Good Boys (2019), Freaky (2020), and Dear Evan Hansen (2021). Focus Features has an expansive inventory of LGBTQ-inclusive films, including GLAAD Media Award winners Brokeback Mountain (2005), Milk (2008), The Kids Are Alright (2010), Pariah (2011), Boy Erased (2018), GLAAD Media Award nominee Kajillionaire (2020), and Stillwater (2021).

OF THE 9 LGBTQ FILMS,

4 WERE UNIVERSAL PICTURES

4 WERE FOCUS FEATURES

1 WAS PEACOCK

Considering the quality, quantity, and diversity of films distributed under NBCUniversal and its labels, GLAAD has given NBCUniversal a GOOD grade.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

AMBULANCE

WIDEST RELEASE: 3,412 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: PASS

AmbulanceAmbulance is an action thriller that follows brothers Danny and Will on a bank heist that goes awry, causing them to hold a police officer and paramedic hostage in an ambulance. The FBI Agent assigned to this case is Clark, who the audience meets in couples therapy with his husband Kyle. In the therapy session, Kyle talks about Clark being more present in his work than in their relationship. Clark, proving Kyle’s point, leaves therapy early to rush to the scene of the ambulance heist. That is the last we see of Kyle, but Clark becomes a more central figure to the plot as it’s revealed he and Will are old friends from college and Clark tries to negotiate with Will and Danny. The casual inclusion of a gay FBI agent in this film is a notable one, though it could have gone further by resolving or even referencing back to Clark and Kyle’s marriage.

BROS

WIDEST RELEASE: 3,356 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: PASS

Widely marketed as being among the first major studio gay romantic comedies, GLAAD Media Award-winning Bros features a love story between two men alongside a rich and diverse LGBTQ ensemble. Bobby, a historian and podcaster who struggles in relatioships, meets Aaron, a lawyer who hates his job and isn’t looking for anything serious. The film examines ideas around masculinity within the gay community with Bobby confessing he feels he sometimes has to tone down his femininity and energy to make others comfortable. The film also delves into LGBTQ history, with Bobby fulfilling his dream of opening up a museum of queer history and the romantic climax of the film taking place at the museum. Bros is unashamed to show and discuss gay sex and explores some of the real conflicts within the queer community. Though the film mostly centered white gay men, the cast included members of the community of all identities. Ideally, this film is a jumping off point for more big raunchy romantic comedies that feature queer people from all backgrounds in the leading roles.

JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION

WIDEST RELEASE: 4,691 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: FAIL

The third film in the Jurassic World franchise brings back several characters from the original Jurassic Park films while introducing a plethora of new players. One of the new characters, Kayla, is a former Air Force pilot who joins the team. There are a few brief moments that may imply that Kayla is queer; she says she likes redheads and is disinterested when notoriously handsome Ian Malcolm unbuttons his shirt. There is a brief scene at the end where she is explaining their heroic story to a redheaded woman that could be interpreted as flirting, but it’s all too short and ambiguous to confirm her queerness. There could have easily been even one extra line or scene to confirm that Kayla is queer, but sadly, Jurassic World: Dominion failed to do so. The previous Jurassic World film, Fallen Kingdom, made headlines for cutting dialogue which would have confirmed a different woman character to be queer

MARRY ME

WIDEST RELEASE: 3,643 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: PASS

Marry MeMarry Me is a romantic comedy between global pop superstar Kat and ordinary teacher Charlie. Charlie’s best friend and coworker Parker is revealed to be a lesbian at the start of the film when she mentions bringing her girlfriend and her girlfriend’s ex to Kat’s concert. A third colleague at the school is Jonathan, another Kat fan. At one point, Parker kisses Jonathan as a distraction tactic and he is clearly disgusted, heavily implying he is also gay. Parker ends up being an important character in the film, though after her breakup with her girlfriend, she isn’t given another love interest. At the end of the film, there is a montage of happy couples, which included a brief appearance by a lesbian couple, but it would have been stronger to have Parker in there as well.

NOPE

WIDEST RELEASE: 3,807 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: PASS

NopeThis GLAAD Media Award-nominated sci-fi film from acclaimed director Jordan Peele tells the story of siblings OJ and Emerald when a suspicious object is spotted in the sky above their family’s ranch. Emerald makes a few remarks throughout the film that confirm her identity as a lesbian—she mentions her “little girl” at home, jokes about sleeping with her female therapist, and gets distracted flirting with a woman at a store. The main plotline, centered on fighting the aliens and saving the farm, leaves no room for on-screen romance for any of the main characters, including Emerald, but because of this, Emerald remains on the same footing as her straight counterparts – rather than being the only character refused a relationship. Most importantly, Nope gives audiences a Black lesbian as the hero and “final girl” of a blockbuster horror film.

FOCUS FEATURES

DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA

WIDEST RELEASE: 3,830 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: PASS

Downton Abbey A New EraThe second film continuation of TV series Downton Abbey continues to feature gay butler Thomas Barrow. In the previous film, he found a romantic interest in another man, Ellis, but in A New Era, he received a letter from Ellis announcing his engagement to a woman. Thomas tells this to the housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes, who is understanding, and while neither of them explicitly mention Thomas’ sexuality, Mrs. Hughes calls him very brave. Over the course of the film, a movie star, Guy Dexter, stays at Downton. He repeatedly flirts with Thomas and at one point asks Thomas to come to Hollywood with him and take care of him the way a wife would. Thomas wrestles with this decision, but eventually resigns from his post at Downton to go off with Guy, giving this gay period-piece character a happy ending with another man. The dialogue is all presented through subtleties of the era, yet Thomas is surrounded by support, even in upper class 1920s England.

HONK FOR JESUS: SAVE YOUR SOUL

WIDEST RELEASE: 1882 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: PASS

Honk for Jesus. Save Your SoulThis mockumentary is a satire of megachurches and follows couple Lee Curtis and Trinitie as they try to reopen their church after Lee’s sex scandal. The scandal involved him taking advantage of several young men while preaching rampant homophobia. There is a scene that shows Lee trying to have sex with his wife, but he is unable to complete the act unless it is anal or oral. He also flirts with the sound man on set, Basil, and offers to give him a job in the church, but Basil brings up his boyfriend and quickly leaves. Lee is also confronted by a former victim and, over the course of the film, abandoned by his congregation. The film heavily calls out the deep hypocrisy within homophobic megachurches, yet still feeds into the toxic narrative that the people who propagate lies about the LGBTQ community are always gay themselves.

MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS

WIDEST RELEASE: 1001 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: FAIL

This film follows the titular Mrs. Harris as she falls into the world of fashion in 1950s Paris. It contains a brief appearance by Christian Dior, who had several little-known male partners in real life. Given that this part of his identity was not addressed in this film, GLAAD did not count Dior as queer.

SPOILER ALERT

WIDEST RELEASE: 738 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: PASS

This GLAAD Media Award-nominated autobiographical drama follows gay couple Michael and Kit through their relationship, from its beginnings to its complications to Kit’s eventual cancer diagnosis and death. The film also features several other LGBTQ characters, including Michael’s roommate Kirby, her girlfriend Jo, and Michael’s friend Nick. Spoiler Alert is riddled with pop culture references, from Michael realizing he was gay as a kid watching Days of Our Lives to the couple bonding over RuPaul’s Drag Race. At the start of the film, Kit isn’t out to his parents and Michael goes along with this, but eventually Kit chooses to come out and his parents are more than accepting. Over the course of the film, Michael becomes closer with Kit’s family and remains close with his parents following his eventual death. The film doesn’t shy away from the relationship issues plaguing the couple, including Michael’s jealousy of Kit’s co-worker, but once Kit is diagnosed with cancer, the two remain strongly together and in love until Kit passes away. The film is a tender story about gay love persevering in the hardest of circumstances.

TÁR

WIDEST RELEASE: 1090 THEATERS

VITO RUSSO TEST: PASS

Tar

This GLAAD Media Award-nominated psychological drama follows esteemed conductor Lydia Tár at the height of her fame and her meteoric downfall. Lydia has a wife and daughter as a self-described “U-Haul lesbian,” but her unmitigated power and ego make her harmful to others in the community. In an early scene of the film, she puts down a queer person of color and makes advances on other women. The film also reveals pieces of a dark past where Lydia mentored and then turned on a young woman, Krista, who died by suicide after Lydia blacklisted her from the music industry. Lydia is often seen with her assistant, Francesca, who clearly has lingering feelings for Lydia. When Lydia denies Francesca a higher up position with the orchestra, Francesca quits and helps orchestrate Lydia’s ousting from the industry by revealing the truth about Krista, which directly leads to Lydia’s downfall. 

There are so often stories of toxic geniuses in this culture, and they are normally straight men. Tár flips the script by showing a lesbian who embraces masculinity and traditional ideals of power, and betrays both other women and queer people. Lydia is not endorsed by the film and her actions are shown as harmful. Though it can contribute to untrue rhetoric to show this abusive person as queer, the film also shows other queer characters surrounding her, and Lydia’s narcissism and abuse of power comes from her ego and status, not her sexual orientation.

PEACOCK

THEY/THEM

STRAIGHT TO STREAMING RELEASE

VITO RUSSO TEST: PASS

They/ThemThis horror film set in a so-called “conversion therapy” camp follows a group of queer campers as the staffers are slowly murdered. Though this film offered a diverse cast of LGBTQ protagonists, the film ultimately fell flat by feeding into the very narrative the film tries to
dissect. They/Them is shown through the eyes of Jordan, a nonbinary teen who resents being sent to this place by his family. The film also shows other trans, gay, and lesbian members of the camp, as well as the staff. The staff includes Gabe, a “honeypot” meant to seduce gay men, as well as a “straight” couple where both members are clearly hiding their true sexualities. When the staff begins getting killed off, the campers band together and find out that the camp’s nurse, Molly, is the killer, and has been plotting revenge ever since she herself was a camper. This framing positions a queer person as the ultimate villain, rather than the real villains who staff and promote these camps. It is commendable to have such an array of LGBTQ people lead this story as the campers, but that was not enough to redeem the film. The film missed an opportunity to highlight the way that non-LGBTQ people are the ones committing horrors here, and how that reflects the real world, but the film skirted this, and ultimately failed to deliver the message of the true horrors of conversion therapy.

OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD

Universal released Knock at the Cabin this February, which tells the story of a gay couple and their child forced to make a horrible decision. The film began as a GLAAD List script and was directed and adapted by M. Night Shyamalan. There are also plenty of announced upcoming films from Universal that could include LGBTQ characters. The film Talent, starring out actress Cynthia Erivo and penned by out writer Lena Waithe, has the potential to add queerness to the story of a songwriter returning home. The third Mamma Mia movie should expand the role of gay character Harry and give him a love interest. Likewise, the third Happy Death Day movie has the opportunity to expand the role of gay character Tim. The Wicked stage musical has long been admired by queer audiences and could pad the world of Oz with queer characters. 

In 2019, Universal announced a Greg Berlanti-helmed biopic of Rock Hudson, All that Heaven Allows, which would dive into Hudson’s career, identity, and HIV diagnosis. There hasn’t been news on the film since its announcement, but GLAAD hopes to see this necessary and important film make it to theaters. There has also not been an update on the adaptation of YA novel Darius the Great is Not Okay since 2019. The sequel to the original book confirmed that Darius is gay. 

In February, Focus Features released Of An Age, a queer love story between a ballroom dancer and his friend’s older brother. Focus also released the documentary Every Body in June which tells the stories of three intersex individuals and their advocacy for their community. In February of 2024, the label will release dark comedy Drive Away Dolls, a “lesbian road trip comedy” where two girls accidentally cross paths with criminals on their way to Tallahassee. Peacock has announced the Community movie, which will feature returning queer character Dean Pelton and has the potential for further inclusion in the beloved TV show continuation. 

There are plenty of inclusive films coming in 2023 and beyond, from Focus Features specifically, and GLAAD urges Universal Pictures to take the same route, and commit to further increasing and diversifying the already rich LGBTQ representation that was seen in 2022.

In the past, GLAAD had counted films released by the theatrical distributor Universal Pictures in this report, while counting arthouse distributor Focus Features separately. This year, GLAAD is counting films distributed under Universal Pictures and Focus Features, as well as streamer Peacock, as one overall brand.

Summary of 2022 Findings

37

Total films released in 2022 under studio and official imprints

9

Total number of LGBTQ-inclusive films

24%

Percent of LGBTQ-inclusive films of studio total releases

9

Number of films that pass the Vito Russo Test

theatrical

31

Total theatrical films released in 2022 under studio and official imprints

8

Total number of theatrical LGBTQ inclusive films

26%

Percent of theatrical LGBTQ-inclusive films of studio theatrical releases

8

Number of theatrical films that pass the Vito Russo Test

streaming

6

Total streaming only films released in 2022 under studio and official imprints

1

Total number of streaming LGBTQ inclusive films

17%

Percent of LGBTQ-inclusive of studio total streaming releases

1

Number of streaming films that pass the Vito Russo Test

STUDIO RATING OVER TIME

4/5

2022

GOOD

3/5

2021

INSUFFICIENT

0/5

2020

N/A

3/5

2019

INSUFFICIENT

4/5

2018

GOOD

3/5

2017

INSUFFICIENT

3/5

2016

INSUFFICIENT

2/5

2015

ADEQUATE

2/5

2014

ADEQUATE

2/5

2013

ADEQUATE

2/5

2012

ADEQUATE

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