You Won’t Believe Why Robbie Williams’ Biopic is a Hit Now

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I’ve recently discovered that one of last year’s significant box office flops, the Robbie Williams biopic known as “Better Man,” has surprisingly found success on Amazon Prime Video. In the U.S. and Canada, this singing chimpanzee-centric movie climbed up to the second spot! At present, it ranks at number six in the U.S. and number five in Canada on their streaming platform.

In August 2024, the movie was first screened at the Telluride Film Festival. Later, on Christmas Day in the U.S., as well as Australia and the UK the following day, it made its official debut. Despite receiving a remarkable 88% positive reviews from critics and a 90% thumbs-up from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, this $110 million production turned out to be a major flop at the box office. It managed to earn just $20.3 million globally, with only $1.9 million coming from U.S. sales. This figure doesn’t account for marketing expenses and revenue shared with cinemas, which might have made it one of the biggest box office bombs ever recorded.

The movie titled “Better Man” offers an in-depth look at the life story of renowned singer Robbie Williams, who kicked off his career as a member of the British band Take That during the early 1990s. After branching out on his own in 1996, he amassed numerous chart-topping hits and has sold more than 77 million albums globally. Given his successful music career, it’s no surprise that a film about him seemed like an excellent choice, particularly with acclaimed director Michael Gracey (of “The Greatest Showman” fame) co-writing and directing the project.

In three of his most prominent markets – the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States (which is one of the biggest film markets globally, second only to China in 2020) – relatively few fans turned up for the movie premiere. It seems that despite catching a glimpse of previews, many fans found the film not engaging enough, even with impressive visual effects, to make it worth their while to watch Williams as a chimpanzee.

Why Did ‘Better Man’ Bomb so Badly Despite Its Terrific Reviews?

As a passionate film aficionado, I found myself utterly bewildered by the box-office failure of the film Better Man. The peculiar decision to portray the lead character, Williams, through an anthropomorphic chimpanzee using visual effects left many viewers, including myself, perplexed. This choice was reportedly made because Williams himself felt that he is “less evolved” than others, which led the creators to this unconventional casting approach.

The decision worked for some, including MovieWeb’s Jake Dee, who wrote:

Initially, casting Williams as a monkey might seem like a playful trick for the audience. But as the movie progresses, it’s evident that this wasn’t just a whimsical decision; it was a symbolic representation of Williams’ life in the spotlight and the psychological turmoil that came with it.

The film debuted not only on Christmas but also Boxing Day as well, following a tradition of high-profile films premiering on those days to kick off the awards season. Over time, some prestigious movies have been released in limited theaters on Christmas Day for award nominations and later expanded nationwide. However, this strategy failed for the movie “Better Man” as it opened in 1,200 U.S. theaters and earned a dismal $18,000 on its opening day.

It’s an issue that, despite Williams being quite a big name in the UK and other regions, many people in the U.S. are not familiar with him. The success of “The Greatest Showman” can be attributed to its star, Hugh Jackman, while recent musical biopics like “Bohemian Rhapsody” (about Queen), “Bob Marley: One Love”, and “A Complete Unknown” (about Bob Dylan) revolve around globally recognized bands and singers.

But at least Better Man is getting a second life on Amazon Prime Video.

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2025-03-14 14:02