“The Greatest Showman” director Michael Gracey has been set to direct “Better Man,” a biopic of British singer/songwriter Robbie Williams blending a coming of age story and “Rocketman”-style ‘fantastical’ musical elements.
Gracey, Oliver Cole and Simon Gleeson are penning the film which deals with Williams’ ascent first as a teenager and member of boy band sensation Take That before breaking out on his own, the demons he battled both on and off the stage, and his stardom on the back of solo hits like “Angels,” “Feel,” “Supreme,” “Millennium,” “Rock DJ,” “Let Me Entertain You,” “She’s the One,” “No Regrets” and “Kids”.
Eleven out of twelve of his studio albums have charted at number one in the UK, and six of them among the top 100 biggest selling albums there. He has sold at least 80 million records and his tours are instant sellouts worldwide (bar the United States where he’s never really broken through). He holds a Guinness record for selling 1.6 million tickets for a tour in a day.
He’s also famed for his provocative, bawdy, self-deprecating and outsized personality and, unlike both Freddie Mercury or Elton John, he was never a musical prodigy – having to work for talents that didn’t come naturally. He’s also faced his own issues of mental illness, depression, obesity, alcoholism, substance abuse and more.
Jules Daly, Craig McMahon and Gracey are producing with filming aiming to begin this summer. Williams’ hit tunes are part of the film package with all the songs to be re-sung by Williams himself “for the emotion of the moment” according to Gracey.
Source: Deadline
