‘Harry Potter’ Star to Play ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in Biopic
The king of parody, "Weird Al" Yankovic, is getting a biopic courtesy of Roku, and the curly-haired Yankovic will be portrayed on screen by Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe.
Roku announced the biopic plans on Tuesday (Jan. 18), with the revelation what Yankovic will be involved in the project. He's writing the film, titled WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, with Funny or Die scribe Eric Appel. The story is said to explore “every facet of Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’ and ‘Like a Surgeon’ to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle.”
Also within the hyped-up logline, the film promises “a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time.”
In addition to writing on the film, Appel has signed on to direct. Production on WEIRD is expected to start in Los Angeles in early February.
Speaking about the project, Yankovic stated, “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. 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.”
Added Appel, “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.”
Yankovic first came to public attention as a contributor to the Dr. Demento radio show, eventually seeing his song parodies grow in popularity with his first self-titled album arriving in 1983. "Eat It," "I Love Rocky Road," "Another One Rides the Bus," "My Bologna" and "Ricky" were among his earliest releases, soon followed by "I Lost on Jeopardy," "Like a Surgeon," "Fat," "Smells Like Nirvana" and more recently "Amish Paradise," "White & Nerdy" "Tacky" and "Canadian Idiot."
While the film is being created for Roku, it will be available on The Roku Channel, which does not require a Roku device, upon its release.