‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Biopic Starring Daniel Radcliffe Ordered at Roku

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Daniel Radcliffe is headed to Amish Paradise. Roku announced Tuesday that the Harry Potter star will play five-time Grammy winner “Weird Al” Yankovic in a newly commissioned streaming biopic.

Written by Yankovic and Funny or Die’s Eric Appel, WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story will 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,” according the official logline. The film promises to take audiences on “a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time.”

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Appel will also direct the film. Production is set to get underway in Los Angeles in early February.

“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,” Yankovic said in a statement. “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 is the best-selling comedy recording artist of all time. Per Roku, he is one of only three artists to have had Top 40 hits in each of the last four decades (the other two being Michael Jackson and Madonna). His most recent studio album, 2014’s Mandatory Fun, became the first comedy album in history to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 and spawned the hit single “Tacky,” a riff on Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.”

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WEIRD will be available on The Roku Channel — which does not require a Roku device — upon its release. Your thoughts on Radcliffe’s casting?

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Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe to star in Weird Al Yankovic biopic

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‘This is the role future generations will remember him for,’ musician says of the British-born actor

You’ve seen Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash; Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin; and Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. But you’ve never seen anything this weird.

The Roku Channel has announced it will start production next month on a biopic of Grammy winner Weird Al Yankovic. Daniel Radcliffe will play the role of the now-62-year-old pop culture icon.

“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 in a statement. “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.”

So… I’m making a movie. — Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) January 18, 2022

Yankovic is clearly choosing not to acknowledge Radcliffe’s notable work as Dead Guy in 2016’s Swiss Army Man ; The Dog Walker in an unfinished film of the same name by Judd Apatow; and Guy With Weapons Bolted to His Hands in the recent release Guns Akimbo .

Nevertheless, the lead role in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will certainly be a stretch for Radcliffe, who is often described as “affable,” “funny” and “a boy wizard,” but seldom as “weird.”

Yankovic, who will co-write and produce the movie, has crafted a successful career out of being little else. While fans note that he is one of only three artists to have their own top 40 hit in each of the last four decades (the others being Michael Jackson and Madonna), they neglect to add that he has achieved this by writing parody songs of, among others, Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Still, director and co-writer Eric Appel seems excited at the prospect of making Weird . “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,” he said.

In fact, he is so excited that he shot a fake trailer for the movie 12 years ago, with Aaron Paul in the role of Weird Al; Gary Cole and Mary Steenburgen as his parents; Patton Oswalt as radio personality Dr. Demento; and Yankovic himself as an unnamed producer who doesn’t believe in this Weird Al kid.

That trailer was produced by Funny or Die, which has partnered with Tango Entertainment to make the film.

The feature-length version, says the press release, “holds nothing back, exploring 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. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story takes audiences on a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time.”

It’s not certain whether Yankovic wrote that press release himself. It would be weird if he did. So that’s probably what happened.

Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2022

Daniel Radcliffe to star as Grammy winner ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in new biopic

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Washington [US], January 18 (ANI): Actor Daniel Radcliffe is all set to portray Grammy-winner ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in Roku’s upcoming original biopic movie titled ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.’

Variety confirmed the news that the upcoming biopic is Roku’s first original biopic and will be available to stream exclusively on The Roku Channel.

‘Weird Al’ Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time and a five-time Grammy winner. The musician’s 2014 release ‘Mandatory Fun’ was the first comedy album in history to debut at number one on Billboard’s Top 200 chart.

Variety obtained the official synopsis of ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ from Roku that reads: “The biopic holds nothing back, exploring 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. ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ takes audiences on a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time.”

The biopic is produced by Funny Or Die and Tango. Yankovic co-wrote the film’s script with Eric Appel, who is also set to direct the project.

Production on the biopic will begin in Los Angeles in early February. (ANI)

Daniel Radcliffe to play ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in Roku biopic

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“Harry Potter” actor Daniel Radcliffe will star in the new film “Weird: The Weird Al Yankovic Story.”

Hidden Pop Music Messages & Songs You Never Knew About

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Weird Al‘s Hidden Message

There’s a lot of hype and paranoia around backwards messages in music – also known as backmasking – and Weird Al played into the hype with his song “I Remember Larry,” featured on his 1996 record Bad Hair Day.

At the 3:10 mark, you can hear Weird Al say backwards: “Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands.”