robbie williams© Photo: Getty Images

Robbie Williams biopic in the works from Greatest Showman director

The film has been in the making for three years now

TV & Film Writer
February 23, 2021

Robbie Williams and the director of The Greatest Showman are teaming up for a special project - a biopic about the pop star's life!

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Michael Gracey, who also worked on the Elton John film Rocketman, is set to direct a new musical film that will tell the story of the former boy bander's unlikely rise to fame aged 16 as a singer with Take That and then as a solo artist.

The film, titled Better Man after Robbie's 2000 single of the same name, will explore the 47-year-old's well-known struggles with substance abuse and the demons he battled both on and off the stage as he became a huge star.  

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t will include many of the singer-songwriter's hit singles, such as Angels, She's The One and Let Me Entertain You, which will be incorporated into the film's storyline.

Speaking about the upcoming project to Deadline, Michael teased that it won't be your average biopic as Robbie will be represented in a "really original way" that remains top secret for now. He also revealed that the idea for the film came from hours' worth of conversation with Robbie, which began following the release of The Greatest Showman over three years ago.

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Explaining what drew him to the project and Robbie's story, the director said he was interested in Robbie being "that every man" who "dreamed big and followed those dreams and they took him to an incredible place".

© Photo: Getty Images

Robbie rose to fame in the 1990s as part of Take That

"Because of that, his is an incredibly relatable story. He's not the best singer, or dancer, and yet, he managed to sell 80 million records worldwide," he explained. 

Robbie has enjoyed a hugely successful solo career after spitting from fellow Take That members Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange in 1995. Today, he is still making music but enjoying life as a family man. With his wife, American TV presenter Ayda Field he shares four children, Teddy, eight, Charlie, six, Coco, two, and baby Beau, who recently turned one.

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