Robbie Williams CGI monkey trailer takes viewers by surprise: ‘Nothing could’ve prepared me’

Williams explains that he sees himself as a ‘little less evolved’ in the eye-opening new trailer

The first trailer for Better Man, the musical biopic about pop star Robbie Williams has been released and got everyone asking the same question: “What’s with the monkey?”

The British music icon’s story will be told in the ambitious film by The Greatest Showman director, Michael Gracey, which will be released on 26 December.

However, instead of an actor playing Williams, he’ll be portrayed by a Planet of the Apes-style CGI monkey with actor Jonno Davies playing the role, via motion capture.

The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on 2 September, which appeared to blindside critics who saw it, calling it a “wild choice” but were mostly positive about the movie.

The only real explanation behind the decision that viewers get in the trailer is that Williams sees himself as a “little less evolved.”

The first trailer was released on Wednesday 2 October, to a bemused reaction online after it quickly went viral, racking up more than 6 million views at the time of writing.

The account for the opticians Specsavers, replied to a description of the film, asking: “Pardon?”

The file-sharing system, Limewire, said: “Did they download the wrong file or something? It happens to the best of us.”

Another person wrote: “Even knowing the concept beforehand, nothing could’ve prepared me for watching this trailer.”

A second joked: “It’s nice to see Hollywood taking the Planet of the Apes franchise in a bold new direction.”

A third added: “Gotta respect Hollywood’s current MO of filmmaking where they just take a script and go ‘yeah but with a monkey.’

Robbie Williams performs on stage at BST Hyde Park (Dave Hogan)

Gracey told Deadline back when the film was first announced: “As for how we represent Robbie in the film, that bit is top secret. I want to do this in a really original way. I just want the audience to… think, ‘I’ve never seen this before’.

Better Man, an Australian-American production and co-stars Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman and Damon Herriman.

Williams isn’t the only major musician releasing an unorthodox biopic about themselves this year. Pharrell Williams’s life story will be recreated in Lego in the forthcoming Piece by Piece.

The 51-year-old musician announced earlier this year that he would be making the unconventional film about his journey to become one of the most successful record producers alive, having created huge international hits like “Happy”, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Kelis’s “Milkshake.”