A Robbie Williams musical biopic is in the works from The Greatest Showman director
23 February 2021, 14:10 | Updated: 23 February 2021, 17:28
Robbie Williams talks about a possible film biopic
The life of Robbie Williams is going to be immortalised forever on film with a biopic 'exploring his demons', the director of The Greatest Showman has revealed.
Robbie Williams fans rejoice – a movie about the star's life and career is officially in the works.
The film, titled Better Man, will chart the star's life from 16-year-old Take That singer to worldwide superstar and 'explore his demons' along the way.
See more: Robbie Williams facts: Take That singer's age, wife, children, net worth and more revealed
The director of the 2017 hit film The Greatest Showman has confirmed he is set to work on the film.
Michael Gracey said he has spent hours talking to the singer about his life and wants to tackle the biopic in a way that hasn't been seen before.
"As for how we represent Robbie in the film, that bit is top secret. I want to do this in a really original way," Gracey told Deadline in an exclusive interview.
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“Unlike some people who were born prodigies or musical geniuses and you follow the narrative of the world catching up to their brilliance, this isn’t that story,” Australian director Gracey said.
“Robbie is that Everyman, who just dreamed big and followed those dreams and they took him to an incredible place. Because of that, his is an incredibly relatable story."
Robbie Williams was born in Stoke-on-Trent and became an overnight sensation with boyband Take That in 1990.
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"He’s not the best singer, or dancer, and yet, he managed to sell 80 million records worldwide," said Gracey. "You can relate to the guy who doesn’t see himself as having any extraordinary talent, even though of course, he does.
"What he did have is the will, vision and confidence to say, I’m going to pursue my dream. For us as an audience, it’s a window into the world, of what if we just went for it and chased that impossible dream that so many of us put to one side.”
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Robbie has also been open about his problems with substance abuse and the difficulties he faced as a pop star, and Michael Gracey is looking to present his story in a way that hasn't been seen before.
“All Robbie’s songs will be re-sung, for the emotion of the moment,” he said. “If in his life he’s in the depths of despair, he’s not going to sing a song as cabaret flamboyant showmanship; it’s going to be broken, acapella, stripped down, because that’s where he is emotionally.
"In moments of pure joy, you’ll get songs sung in this whirlwind of hysteria. So essentially every song in the film, Robbie will sing, but it will be performed for the emotion of that moment, and that scene.”
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The 'Angels' singer is hugely famous worldwide, but for some reason never managed to crack America, exactly why Robbie now lives there, according to Gracey.
"All the round the world, he is massive here in Australia and massive in Europe, and for whatever reason, he didn’t crack that U.S. market,” he said. “Which is why he lives there, because he is able to go down the street and he not have his clothes torn off him."
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"Everywhere outside the U.S. people are going to hear these songs and they’re going to know every single one of them.
"Inside the U.S., they hopefully will greet it the same way as when they met The Greatest Showman. They didn’t know those songs, and yet people fell in love with them and made them their own."
Robbie Williams interview: "It's a miracle if I make the charts now"
