There aren’t many musicians who can say they’ve had a successful career spanning decades, but Weird Al Yankovic is one of those people. So, while we get a slew of rock biopics about music legends, you knew it was only a matter of time before Hollywood turned its gaze to the life of Weird Al.
According to The Roku Channel, the streaming service has made a deal with Funny Or Die and Tango for a biopic titled “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” The film, as the title suggests, is expected to follow the life and career of the comedian/musician as he rose to prominence in the ‘80s and, well, never really went away. The film will star Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al and will be written and directed by Eric Appel, a veteran TV director who also helmed the Funny or Die short that inspired this film. (That short, also titled “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” features Aaron Paul in the lead role.)
“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,” said Yankovic. “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.”
“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,” Appel added.
As Yankovic sarcastically joked, Radcliffe is probably best known for his work as Harry Potter in the “Harry Potter” film franchise. Since then, he’s done a number of interesting, often comedic films. It’s going to be interesting to see him lead this film.
“There clearly aren’t enough biopic movies about famous musicians and we were excited to shine a light on the incredibly true, unexaggerated story of Weird Al,” said Colin Davis, Roku’s Head of Original Scripted Programming. “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.”
A release date for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” has yet to be released. But this might just be the project that makes a lot of people sign up for the Roku-based streaming service. You can watch the original short below: