The hilarious comedy musician “Weird Al” Yankovic will be played by Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe in an upcoming biopic about the five-time Grammy winner.
As covered by Deadline,Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will be produced by Funny or Die and Tango, with the feature set to begin filming in early February in Los Angeles. The movie will focus on the now-62-year-old’s explosive rise to fame from a child prodigy to Grammy star, and will cover his dramatic celebrity relationships and overall lifestyle post-fame.
“When my last movie UHF came out in 1989, I made a solemn vow to my fans that I would release a major motion picture every 33 years, like clockwork,” Yankovic said. “I’m very happy to say we’re on schedule, and I am absolutely thrilled that Daniel Radcliffe will be portraying me in the film. I have no doubt whatsoever that this is the role future generations will remember him for.”
Yankovic and Eric Appel wrote the screenplay, with Appel signing on to direct and executive produce. The movie will be available to stream exclusively on the Roku Channel. Colin Davis, Roku’s head of original scripted programming, said the company is excited to “shine a light” on the story of Weird Al.
“This is sincerely the ultimate combination of talent, creativity, and friends, coming together to make something genuinely funny and we could not be prouder to call this film a Roku Original,” said Davis.
“When Weird Al first sat me down against my will and told me his life story, I didn’t believe any of it, but I knew that we had to make a movie about it,” added Appel, who wrote and directed a Funny or Die video also titled Weird: The Al Yankovic Story starring Aaron Paul, Olivia Wilde, Patton Oswalt, Paul Scheer, and more in 2010:
Radcliffe has had a big 2022 already. The 32-year-old just appeared in the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts reunion special, and is set to star in Paramount’s The Lost City, a comedy that also stars Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. The film hits theaters on March 25.
