Last week came the news that “The Greatest Showman” director Michael Gracey had been set to direct “Better Man,” a biopic of British singer/songwriter Robbie Williams.
Gracey, Oliver Cole and Simon Gleeson are penning the film which at the time was described as a coming of age story mixed with fantastical musical elements and a very unique project.
Today comes word on just how unique it may actually be. As part of an article on the virtual European Film Market currently underway with a host of major projects on offer for distributors to potentially pick up, Deadline has found out some more information about the film.
It seems the movie is initially priced in the $100 million budget range and according to the trade, Williams will be portrayed by a CGI monkey in the film with one buyer wisecracking “it’s bananas” after hearing the pitch.
Despite the simian simulacrum, it’s still expected to be an otherwise straightforward story of Williams’ ascent as a teenager and member of boy band Take That before breaking out on his own, the demons he battled both on and off the stage (mental illness, depression, weight fluctuations, substance abuse), and his stardom on the back of solo hits like “Angels,” “Feel,” “Supreme,” “Millennium,” “Rock DJ” and “Let Me Entertain You”.
It’s one of several idiosyncratic films being sold at EFM, another being the already completed Australia/New Zealand dramedy co-production “Nude Tuesday” which is shot entirely in “gibberish” with two different sets of subtitles available to tell its story of a suburban couple who spends a week at a new-age retreat to try and save their marriage.
