E-Paper
Made for $110 million, earned just $15 million, how biopic of a star 'nobody knows' became 2025's first box office bomb
This film, which was nominated for an Oscar, lost close to $100 million at the box office for a rather strange reason.
Imagine a biopic about a musical artist who has seen all their albums reach number 1, set the Guinness World Record for most tickets sold in a day, and has been around for 30 years. Sounds like a certain blockbuster, right? Yet, when a film on this artiste was released in early January, there were virtual crickets chirping in most theatres. This is the story of the first box office bomb of 2025, a film that has had a puzzling time at the ticket windows in America. (Also read: Movie Review: Robbie Williams has always lived to entertain. In Better Man, he’s still doing it)
2025's first box office bomb
Better Man, a musical by director Michael Gracey, is based on the life of British singer Robbie Williams. However, in a rather curious take on his life, Robbie is not played by any actor but a CGI monkey in the film. The role is performed by Jonno Davies using motion capture, and both Williams and Davies voice it. The film had a limited release in the last weekend of 2024, and received glowing reviews, including an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. Eventually, Better Man got a wide release on January 10. Yet, it was a box office disaster. Made on a budget of $110 million, Better Man has grossed only $15 million worldwide and is already nearing the end of its run. The film has had a dismal run in North America, where it has managed only $1.9 million in four weeks, despite reports claiming that Paramount spent over $20 million for the distribution rights.
The curious case of Better Man in the US
Many have attributed the film's failure in the US to the absolute absence of Robbie Williams's popularity there. The singer is a household name in the UK but is largely unknown in the US. Around the time of the film's release, social media was flooded with memes about the film. One tweet read, "Why would people watch a film about a dude nobody knows." The Sentinel noted, "The release of his new biopic on Boxing Day has thrown a spotlight on this fact, revealing that the 'Angels' hitmaker isn't as well-known in the States....(it) hasn't made waves in America, leaving moviegoers puzzled about Robbie's identity and his portrayal as a primate in the flick."
Deadline Hollywood noted that the film failed to do well in the UK too, where Williams is popular. Better Man has earned just $6 million in the UK. Some critics have argued that the gimmick of the CGI chimpanzee did not sit too well with the audience, who failed to relate to the star or the film, leading to its dismal performance.
Better Man is still in some theatres worldwide but is doing worse than smaller films like The Brutalist and The Last Showgirl, which have fewer shows. Its daily earnings in the US have dropped below $100k now.
