The death of Queen Elizabeth II was devastating for so many people up and down the country, but there were also some unexpected consequences.
The monarch died in September 2023, just days before the Robbie Williams biopic – which depicts the Angels singer as a CGI monkey – was due to start filming.
Director Michael Gracey, best known for his work on The Greatest Showman, had arranged to have London’s Regent Street closed down for four nights so he could film an elaborate musical number for Better Man.
However, his permits were pulled during an official period of mourning, and insurers refused to cover the costs – which left the project ‘millions of dollars’ worse off.
‘On the Friday we were feeling very buoyant, because the first night of filming was Sunday night, and we got a call from the Crown Estate to tell us that the queen had just died and we wouldn’t be shooting because there’s 10 days of mourning,’ he told HELLO!
‘So we lost all of the money. There’s no insurance for the death of the queen.
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‘People will say to you: “No, there is, because it’s force majeure”, and you say; “No, it’s not”. It’s civil authority that shuts you down with the death of the queen, and after Covid, civil authority was capped at 250 grand payouts.’
It took the production ‘another five months’ to get back onto the street for filming, and they had to find the money again.
‘So we lost millions of dollars,’ he added. ‘And every time I watch it, I think people have no idea how close we came to that not being in the film.’
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Even getting the permits in the first place was a bit of a nightmare, with the idea of completely shutting down the street ‘for four nights’ proving difficult, particular with the need to ‘redirect the buses’.
The Better Man crew were ‘told no so many times’ before the Royal Family’s fondness for Robbie helped turn the tide in their favour.
The director said: ‘Fortunately, the land is Crown Estate, and the royals like Robbie and so between Westminster Council and the Crown Estate and the most incredible amount of paperwork, we got to shut it down for four nights.’
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