Biopic “Robbie Williams: Better Man” with a CGI-monkey in the lead role earned a modest $10 million in its debut at the box office. The international market brought the movie $8.8 million, while North American theaters contributed a sum that barely exceeded $1 million.
“Robbie Williams: Better Man” is a musical biopic that tells the life of the British singer of the same name, portrayed on screen by an anthropomorphic CGI-monkey. Williams himself explained this idea by stating he always felt “less developed than other people”.
“The main character depicted as a chimpanzee in the musical biopic looks strange and unusual, and some might perceive it as normal, however, based on subjective impressions, it seemed inappropriate,” — wrote in his review ITC.ua’s film critic Denys Fedoruk, while noting the bright musical numbers, Williams’ honesty in front of the audience, and technical elements.
Despite its modest debut, the film “Robbie Williams: Better Man” has fairly good ratings: for instance, on Rotten Tomatoes the film received 87% from critics and 94% from viewers.
The production of the film cost approximately $110 million, with Paramount paying around $25 million for the rights to show it “at home”. Musical biopics rarely impress with box office achievements, thus such a large budget, even before the debut, seemed unjustified.
“An animated chimpanzee in the role of Robbie Williams is an amazing choice. This is a film for those who complain that the industry doesn’t take risks. However, $110 million is unrealistic for the genre and for the musician in particular. $25-30 million would have seemed more appropriate,” — commented Variety‘s David A. Gross, head of the company Franchise Entertainment Research, which studies and analyzes box office revenues.
Regarding other box office achievements, “Mufasa: The Lion King” reached $540 million in revenue this weekend, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” has $380 million, and “Moana 2” — $989.8 million.
“Nosferatu” also has quite successful figures, considering its modest budget of $50 million. Currently, Robert Eggers’ film has earned $135 million worldwide.
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