Robbie Williams biopic flops at US box office, Gerard Butler gets off to a good start
The ambitious Better Man falls far short of the mark, while the heist thriller Criminal Squad: Pantera dethrones Mufasa.
The crazy year 2025 of musical biopics is off to a decidedly bad start. After the small flop of the film on Bob Dylan worn by Timothée Chalamet (only 45 million dollars in revenue in the United States), it is the one on Robbie Williams who has just fallen off stage suddenly. And for Better Manthe crash is violent. The biopic directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) made a catastrophic debut across the Atlantic this weekend (it will be released on January 22 in France). With a meager score of 1 million collected in 1,291 theaters in the United States and 1.9 million for its launch in the United Kingdom, Better Man failed to seduce the public and has only grossed $4.7 million so far, far from making its XXL budget profitable.
Produced independently for around $110 million and acquired by Paramount for $25 million, the project attempted a daring sidestep, a unique narrative approach: the British singer is played by a monkey in computer-generated images. This metaphor, meant to reflect Williams’ sense of feeling ” less evolved than the others ”, seems to have left many fans perplexed.
The contrast is all the more striking since at the other end of the US box office, it’s a big, old-fashioned, very conventional blockbuster that has scraped the top spot in the American rankings. While Better Man collapses under the weight of its ambitions, on the other, Criminal Squad: Pantera stands out with its effective and proven action formula.
Lionsgate can rejoice because Den of Thieves 2 has just had a successful start at the US box office. The heist thriller, sequel to Den of Thieves (2018), took the top spot with $15.5 million from 3,008 theaters. This start exceeds expectations, aligning with that of its predecessor (15.2 million) which had raked in 80 million dollars at the end of the track worldwide. With a moderate production budget of 40 million, Den of Thieves 2 seems to be on track to do so well.
Waiting for, Gerard Butler is already offered Mufasa. The prequel to Lion King loses its crown but continues to perform solidly. In its fourth weekend, the film grossed just over $13 million in North America, bringing its domestic total to $188 million and over $500 million worldwide.
Sonic 3 follows just behind, on the podium and has just crossed the milestone of 200 million dollars at the US box office, the most profitable of the franchise in America. With 385 million overall for the moment, Sonic 3 will also beat in a few days the total of Sonic 2 (401 million in 2022) at the total box office.
