Are you psyched to see Hollywood’s latest blockbuster, “Better Man,” about beloved British popstar Robbie Williams, famous frontman of the pop group “Take That” in the 90s?
No?
What if I told you that instead of being portrayed by an A-List lookalike, this biopic outsources to a CGI monkey?
Still no?
I don’t blame you. Neither would the rest of the world who ensured this obvious flop would, well — flop.
This is no small production. It was acquired by Paramount for a whopping $25 million. And although it was produced independently, it had a sizable $110 million budget. That’s nothing to scoff, even by blockbuster standards. For comparison, another big indie-turned-blockbuster from 2024, “Civil War,” had just a $50 million budget and grossed over $126 million.
And what did all of that buy? A paltry $1 million box office debut across 1,291 theaters in the U.S., according to Variety. Even across the pond, where the singer is presumably more well known, the film flopped at just a $1.9 million debut.
This is supposed to be a very audience-forward picture. Big energy, impressive effects, and a rags to riches tale — it most certainly isn’t meant to win awards or a standing ovation at Cannes. Yet in their desperate attempt to sell us nostalgia, Hollywood reveals how out of touch they really are.
Shallow fame and fortune are not so much a Western ideal anymore; someone chasing those will make an OnlyFans or YouTube account, not join a pop group. Neither are audiences wildly impressed by over-the-top effects that were far overdone in the 2010s. This film might have worked in the time its set, the 90s, when audiences were far more naive and willing to buy into the consumer ideal of success. Not so today. Unless it’s a larger than life figure like Elton John, good luck getting audiences to show up.
On the bright side, rather than some woke, preachy drivel, this movie seems to be Hollywood’s idea what of what viewers actually want (in theory at least). So A for effort, I guess. It just turns out they have no idea what they’re doing.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
