"Why so many Americans want Better Man to flop so badly" — Robbie Williams fans react to singer's biographical movie tanking at the box office

Robbie Williams' musical biopic Better Man, was released in the theaters on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, in the United States. In the movie, Robbie has been portrayed by a CGI chimpanzee. The 2024 movie, however, did not garner much positive response from the audience. According to Variety, it grossed about only $1.1 million from 1,291 venues in ticket sales.

The movie whose budget reportedly was $110 million, didn't do well as expected, in the UK, where it was released on December 26, 2024. With a weak start, Better Man opened with an earning of only $1.9 million, as per reports by Variety, published on January 12, 2025. The outlet also reported that despite the earnings, the movie received positive reviews in the UK.

Meanwhile, social media platforms like X, have been flooded with fans' comments discussing the movie's performance. Here are some popular reactions found on the platform. A user wrote:

"I don't understand why so many Americans want Better Man to flop so badly. So what if you don't know who Robbie Williams is?"

Another user wrote:

"Robbie rocks and it’s high time more Americans knew about him."

"You know, i don't particularly like robbie williams but americans NEED to stop thinking they're the center of the universe," added a tweet.

"Why are Americans so stubborn and dismissive of #BetterMan and Robbie Williams?" wondered another netizen.

While many believed that Better Man was worth watching, many felt otherwise. A user tweeted:

"I’m just not willing to spend the money to go see it. I’ll watch it on streaming."

"I wish the RW fangirls/boys would STFU about Americans tbh," explained another one.

"Another day of Europeans freaking out over Americans not caring for a Robbie Williams movie," a user tweeted.

---

Exploring more about Robbie Williams' Better Man and reason behind its poor performance in the US

While Robbie is undoubtedly a popular singer in the United Kingdom, he reportedly couldn't penetrate the US market, thus, leading to a disappointing outcome, as per The Metro UK. While several people in the US believed that Robbie's lack of recognition in the US was the main issue, others believed that people should anyway go and watch the movie.

As reported by Variety, David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, spoke about the 2024 movie and its performance. He said:

"Robbie Williams played by a digitally animated chimpanzee [is] an outlandish choice. For anyone complaining that the industry plays it too safe, this is your movie."

He then addressed the massive budget for the biopic and expressed a different point of view. According to Gross:

"The risk-taking is excellent, but $110 million is not realistic for the genre and for this musical artist. $25 to $30 million would have made more sense."

Apart from Robbie, the movie cast also included Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Raechelle Banno, Kate Mulvany, Tom Budge, and Damon Herriman, to name a few.