“Better Man,” Robbie Williams’ life story as a CGI chimpanzee, is a box-office disaster.
Sing when you’re losing – after just under three weeks in British and US cinemas, Robbie Williams’ biopic, “Better Man”, has only grossed ten million US dollars worldwide. Given a production budget of $110 million, this is considered a megaflop.
Especially since, in addition to the production costs of a film of this size, there are also expenses for marketing, which, although never released, usually amount to at least 50 percent of the production costs. A rule of thumb in the entertainment industry is that a film must gross at least 2.5 times its cost in order not to make a loss. “Better Man”, which opened in Germany on January 2nd, is unlikely to achieve this goal.
Research into causes: What happened?
Of course you start to investigate the cause, what was the problem? On the one hand, there is certainly the concept: a film about Robbie Williams in which Robbie Williams is neither seen nor played by an actor, but by a computer-animated chimpanzee, is difficult to convey. Then the title: “Better Man” refers to a largely unknown song from the ex-and-again-and-then-again ex-Take-Thatter’s solo work, which was released in 2001 as the 6th and final single his third album SING WHEN YOU’RE WINNING was released – and only in Australia, New Zealand and Latin America. Imagine if the Queen biopic hadn’t been called “Bohemian Rhapsody” but “The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke.” Why wasn’t the film called “Let Me Entertain You”? In Germany, which is otherwise not particularly praiseworthy for dubbing titles, the film is called “Better Man – The Robbie Williams Story” in a more understandable way.
The poster campaign also featured the cover image of Williams’ solo debut, LIFE THRU A LENS. Although it sold more than four million units worldwide, which is impressive, it by no means generated a high recognition value that is important for marketing, such as that of Nirvana’s NEVERMIND. Williams has also been considered a has-been for about 20 years. His last really culture-defining album, INTENSIVE CARE, was released in 2005. Afterwards he landed a belly flop with the messy RUDEBOX, from which his career never recovered. Since then, he has grabbed onto every branch that promises him artistic survival: here a Christmas album, there a sequel to his successful swing record, plus new recordings of old hits in orchestral garb.
Anyone who was interested in Williams’ career in the recent past only had the opportunity to do so at the end of 2023 in the form of a four-part Netflix documentary. Of course, the ultimate reason for the failure of “Better Man” is that the US market, which is essential for such an expensive film, is not available to Williams: In the USA, Williams is largely a nobody; even his biggest hit there – “Angels,” of course – only reached number 53 on the Billboard charts.
The “Citizen Kane” of music films?
The tragic thing about the flop is that “Better Man” is absolutely worth seeing; It achieved a rating of 87 percent on the review collection platform “Rotten Tomatoes”. So is “Better Man” the “Citizen Kane” of musical films? Probably more like the “Planet of the Apes” of music films. So let’s hope Williams sings not only when he wins, but also when he loses.