‘Better Man’: How Weta’s Emotive CG Monkey Became the Star of the Robbie Williams Biopic (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Carolyn Giardina The audacious approach to the upcoming Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” began when the British singer-songwriter referred to himself in an interview as a sort of performing “monkey.” That quip inspired “The Greatest Showman” director Michael Gracey to take a bold approach to his original and entertaining film: telling the story from Williams’ perspective while showing viewers how Williams saw himself—as a performing chimp.

To do this, the production enlisted “The Lord of the Rings” visual effects studio Weta FX to create an emotive computer-generated monkey as the lead character.

The studio knows a thing or two about CG simians, having created stunning characters for Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” and the latest “Planet of the Apes” movies, but every story has its own unique requirements.

In this case, Williams has the appearance of a photoreal chimp but is an otherwise human character who interacts with other human characters and shows a range of human emotions. “We could have created the best looking digital ape ever, but if everyone around him is not convincing, then the whole thing sort of falls apart,” explains VFX supervisor Luke Millar, who with key members of the team recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Variety at Wellington-based Weta.