Michael Gracey: Last News

Robbie Williams has opened up about his complex relationship with former bandmate Gary Barlow, admitting that while their feud is a thing of the past, things will never be completely the same again. The 50 year old singer reflected on the ups and downs he's experienced with Barlow, 53, since their rise to stardom in the '90s with Take That.

Robbie Williams has shared the new single ‘Forbidden Road’, taken from upcoming biopic Better Man. Check it out, alongside the full soundtrack tracklist, below.The new single was written specially for the film, which is directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) and tells the life story of Williams – from his early days in childhood to his first taste of success with boyband Take That.It will also dive into his massively successful career as a solo artist, covering the record-breaking achievements he accrued with albums like 2000’s ‘Sing When You’re Winning’ and 2002’s ‘Escapology’.Released today (November 22), the new single comes alongside a brand new lyric video, which includes previously unseen footage from the film.

When one imagines a musical biopic of storied singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, a CGI chimpanzee in the lead role is not an obvious choice. However, Better Man, in the hands of writer-director producer Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), sees that proverbial ‘performing monkey’, played by Jonno Davies, become key to a poignant tale of dehumanizing celebrity. As Williams puts it, “It is a very special magic trick. It desensitizes and sensitizes you all at the same time. We have deep empathy and compassion for animals, way more than we do for humans.” 

ROBBIE Williams has always enjoyed monkeying around and reveals he is delighted he will be played by a CGI chimp in the much anticipated story of his life.

The Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled the bulk of the line-up for its fourth edition, which will showcase 120 films from 81 territories from December 5 to 14 in the port city of Jeddah.

Robbie Williams is set to go back on the road for a UK and European tour “soon”, he reveals.Earlier today, Williams announced details for the soundtrack of upcoming biopic Better Man, in which he stars as a reimagined CGI monkey version of himself. The album will be released a day after the film’s UK release date of December 26 – it features re-recorded versions of songs from Williams’ catalogue that will be featured in the film.In a social media post, Williams shared a pre-order link to purchase physical copies of the album – which come with a signed poster.

Robbie Williams told Deadline on Saturday that Liam Payne’s tragic death had hit him hard: “We’re processing a world-wide shock. I’m sat in depression, and I’m sat in sadness. A huge part of that is Liam-shaped.”

What in the heck is this??

Robbie Williams‘ forthcoming biopic Better Man.As previously reported, – the singer is reimagined as a CGI monkey, in the movie, which documents his life. You can view him going ape in the new trailer below.According to a synopsis: “Better Man is based on the true story of the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams, one of the greatest entertainers of all time.

Jordan Moreau Robbie Williams fans will go bananas over the trailer for “Better Man” — literally. Paramount released the first trailer for the musical biopic from Michael Gracey, director of “The Greatest Showman,” which uses a CGI monkey as a stand-in for the British pop singer. Yes, really.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Paramount Pictures’ historical drama, “September 5,” which recounts the harrowing true story of the 1972 Munich Olympic hostage crisis, is gearing up for the upcoming Oscar race with a full-scale awards campaign. Following enthusiastic receptions at the Venice and Telluride film festivals, the film’s ensemble cast, including Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, and Leonie Benesch, will compete in the supporting acting categories.

Paramount Pictures has set a limited theatrical release for Tim Felbaum’s thriller September 5 for Nov. 27 after a great response for the movie out of the Venice and Telluride film festivals.

Robbie Williams and Jonno Davies pose together at the premiere of their new movie Better Man during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival held at Roy Thomson Hall on Monday (September 9) in Toronto, Ontario.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man,” in which the British singer plays himself as a CGI monkey, will make its debut Monday at the Toronto International Film Festival. According to multiple sources with direct knowledge, Williams will give a surprise musical performance at an intimate post-screening party at the Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto.

Michael Gracey‘s wildly inventive musical biopic of British superstar entertainer Robbie Williams rolls the dice on a unique star casting decision to play Williams which successfully separates it from every showbiz biopic that has come before. A CGI monkey (actor Jonno Davies) plays the singer in what is otherwise a recognizable cradle to a comeback story so familiar to those who rise to the top, only to fall, and then to rise again. This is the equivalent to casting Lassie to play Frank Sinatra. Okay, maybe not that crazy, but close enough. So guess what? It really works, even if in America the subject of this major studio film (Paramount picked up the independently produced production) is not widely known, but an icon who has sold over 80 million albums across the rest of the globe, and was recently the subject of a four-part Netflix docu series. It had its World Premiere this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic When Robbie Williams told an interviewer that he felt like a performing monkey, he didn’t mean it literally. But that’s exactly how “The Greatest Showman” director Michael Gracey interprets the remark in “Better Man,” an off-the-wall musical biopic that surely would have seemed banal — as opposed to downright bananas — had it featured a flesh-and-blood actor in the Robbie Williams role.

Telluride has launched some terrific movies this weekend — Edward Berger’s Conclave, Michael Gracey’s Better Man, Pablo Larrain’s Maria and Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5 among them — but it would be hard to find more palpable energy evident in a movie theater than that generated by Saturday Night tonight.

Musicals are really in vogue at the Fall Film Festivals this year. At Venice the upcoming Joker: Folie a Deux will have stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga singing and dancing to the standards. At Telluride Emilia Perez has the bug, as does the country-tinged The Easy Kind. Plus there is the Robbie Williams creation, Better Man from The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey; and Pharrell Williams’ LEGO biopic Piece By Piece that are keeping us coming out of the theatre humming the tunes. And now, world premiering today at Telluride is The End, perhaps the most unlikely storyline for a musical of all (well at least until Joker starts warbling “That’s Entertainment”). It is set after the world has ended due to a catalclysmic environmental disaster and the only people left on earth are a very wealthy family -partially responsible for it – living in a plush underground bunker. Bring on the songs!

Superstar singer Robbie Williams displayed his signature cheekiness at the world premiere screening of Michael Gracey‘s musical biography Better Man when he asked members of the audience at the Telluride Film Festival to “suspend your absolute bigotry” over a word that most Americans find offensive.

After today’s Telluride premiere of Better Man, the cat will be out of the bag. Or, more appropriately, the monkey will be out of the barrel. The film covers Robbie Williams’ larger than life ascension from the bad boy in the Brit boy band Take That to superstar solo artist – with all the drug & alcohol use, struggles with depression & anxiety – is captured in its decadent glory befitting a superstar who pushed every envelope. Directed by Michael Gracey, Better Man is as much a full-blown musical as his last hit, The Greatest Showman. Only here, all of the characters are depicted by humans, except for Williams. He appears throughout the film in the form of, as Williams says, “a cheeky chimpanzee.”

The Venice Film Festival has begun and the Toronto International Film Festival is a week away, but in the mountains of Colorado, perhaps one of the most influential festivals in the world has finally announced its slate. The 2024 Telluride Film Festival will screen nearly 60 feature films including world premieres of Malcolm Washington’s “The Piano Lesson,” Edward Berger’s “Conclave,” Michael Gracey’s “Better Man,” Scott McPhee and David Siegel’s “The Friend,” Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End,” and RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys.” Documentary screenings include Morgan Neville’s “Piece by Piece” and Errol Morris’ “Separated.” READ MORE: Venice Film Festival Preview: 15 must-see movies including “Maria,” “Queer” & “Joker: Folie à Deux” The festival will also screen Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Anora” as well as award winners such as Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez,” Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” and Jesse Eisenberg’s Sundance screenwriting winner “A Real Pain.” Additionally, Pablo Larrain’s “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie, and Tim Fehlbaum’s “September 5” and Alfonso Cuarón’s “Disclaimer” will make the trip from Venice to Telluride to screen at the festival.