Robbie Williams biopic ‘Better Man’ bombs with $1M debut

[Teletubby 137,321]

Paramount’s musical biopic “Better Man,” in which a CGI monkey portrays the British singer Robbie Williams, hit all the wrong notes with a paltry $1 million [Fri $560K Sat $295K Sun $195K] from 1,291 venues, albeit a smaller screen count than the average nationwide release.

The film, directed by “The Greatest Showman’s” Michael Gracey, captures the rise of the best-selling local artist through the lens of a chimp because, as Williams puts it, he always felt “less evolved than other people.”

Even across the pond, where Williams is more well known than he is in the States, “Better Man” faltered with $1.9 million to start and $4.7 million to date. Those ticket sales aren’t a good sign for commercial prospects, although “Better Man” has been well reviewed.

“Better Man” was produced independently for roughly $110 million and acquired by Paramount for $25 million.
“Robbie Williams played by a digitally animated chimpanzee [is] an outlandish choice. For anyone complaining that the industry plays it too safe, this is your movie,” says Gross. “The risk-taking is excellent, but $110 million is not realistic for the genre and for this musical artist. $25 to $30 million would have made more sense.”

 

[Catnikko 13,936]

idk how they thought that big a budget was appropriate for a fairly niche film  i bet the budget was for the cgi monkey 

[Shakmasda 189]

OOps!

I guess his 300 million net worth will take the fall.

[AndiGaga 6,149]

I would be interested but I dont want to see an ugly monkey for 2 hours

[Pablo 7,397]

As an American I have only heard one of his songs before, seemed like a big risk to replace the lead with a CGI Chimpanzee 

[Killa 15,844]

I mean if you lived in the 00s in Europe, robbie Williams was a megastar. But Honestly i think everyone hates him and this Isnt the 00s . And then this chimp idea Is a deservice. Its a hard pitch to sell, thought this from the beggining.

 

[Killa 15,844]

4 minutes ago, Pablo said:

As an American I have only heard one of his songs before, seemed like a big risk to replace the lead with a CGI Chimpanzee 

Oh damn. Which One? Feel?

Edited 3 hours ago by Killa

[Pablo 7,397]

4 minutes ago, Killa said:

Oh damn. Which One? Feel?

No, Candy

[sarahb 16,361]

The most shocking thing I learnt when this movie came out was finding out that Robbie Williams is practically unknown in the US 

[Teletubby 137,321]

'Better Man' was partially funded through a grant from the Australian Government. 

It was filmed at Melbourne’s Docklands Studios between May and June 2022 and was granted millions of dollars in subsidies from Film Victoria’s incentive program.

It is the biggest production in the history of the state and saw the creation of 3,000 jobs and injected $142 million into the economy, the Victorian government said. However Victoria's net debt is expected to be $135.5 billion this financial year, rising to $152.9 billion in 2024-25, $166.1 billion in 2025-26 and $177.8 billion in 2026-27.

The movie also benefited from the Federal Government’s Producer Offset, which provides a generous 40 per cent rebate for major films produced in Australia.  

I know that Australians wanted to make Rita Ora's biopic, but @Rat Boy didn't agree, and so they had to make one about Robbie Williams 

[Chuckles 2,547]

I saw the trailer in theaters last year and automatically thought it was trash, complete waste of investment

[Killa 15,844]

4 minutes ago, Pablo said:

No, Candy

Mess i didnt even knew that Was the title of the Song..honestly he really has a lot of hits 

[butthole 9,786]

Between this and the Lego Pharrell biopic, I'm wondering if they're an indicator of more to come or if their failures are enough to squash this trend.

[RAMROD 104,911]

Whoever think to release this in USA based on Ribbie's fame alone is delusional af lmao, like he is nobody here. He failed to crack the market in early 2000s, barely one hot wonder. Real talk. 
 

I seen it cos I know who he is, the film was great but the distributor could do more to sell this movie. But they didn't so it's on them that this movie flop here VS how it performed elsewhere 

[RAMROD 104,911]

8 minutes ago, butthole said:

Between this and the Lego Pharrell biopic, I'm wondering if they're an indicator of more to come or if their failures are enough to squash this trend.

There will be Michael Jackson ones this year. October. And likely do numbers.