Daniel Radcliffe to play Weird Al in "WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story" (Roku exclusive)

[The Debts]

Daniel Radcliffe is set to star in the title role of “WEIRD: The Weird Al Yankovic Story” for Roku, the company announced on Tuesday. The film will focus on the prolific career of the Grammy-winning musician and pop cultural icon.

Produced by Funny Or Die and Tango, “WEIRD: The ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Story” is Roku’s first original biopic. Production for “WEIRD” will begin in Los Angeles in February. The film will be available exclusively for free on The Roku Channel.


Per the film’s official description: “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.”

“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,” Yankovic said in a statement.

Henry Muñoz III, Funny Or Die Chairman and executive producer said: “I am excited that my first project as the owner of Funny Or Die Studios is to help bring the story of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic to the screen. Weird Al is a comic genius and his impact on pop culture, his mastery of the music video, his award-winning music and his incredible life are a perfect fit for the talented producers at FOD. We are honored to partner with Roku, Tango and our director Eric Appel on this important movie. WEIRD has brought together a weird and wonderful team of creative people, to tell the story
of a man who has made people laugh and sing across the world.”

“Weird Al” Yankovic is a five-time Grammy winner and the best-selling comedy recording artists ever. He landed the first comedy album #1 debut in 2014 with “Mandatory Fun” and is one of just 3 recording artists to have top 40 hits in all of the last 4 decades.

Source.

[CyberpunkCentral]

[BluBonnet]

Will he do his own singing?

[DVD Josh]

Should have been Aaron Paul

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - YouTube

[Hardback247]

They have different eye colors, though.

[starsteam]

Originally Posted by DVD Josh

Should have been Aaron Paul

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - YouTube

Was about to say, we've been down this road before. But now it's going to be a real movie.

Can't MGM/Amazon just make UHF 2. Just imagine the spin with the streaming age, and on a streaming service.

[edmonddantes]

I like Radcliff's choices, he could've done mainstream projects but like Pattinson he actually likes to take risks. Not sure if I'd cast him as weird al, but Im sure he'll do a fine job because hes actually a very good actor.

[captveg]

Originally Posted by DVD Josh

Should have been Aaron Paul

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - YouTube

I love that we're getting an actual feature film of this.

[Jay H.]

This is the most insane movie news I've read in quite some time. I'm sold.

[Gacivory]

I would be more excited if it wasn't billed as a Roku exclusive.

[Moviefan2k4]

I'm a little on the fence about this, mainly because I still associate Daniel Radcliffe with Harry Potter...but I do hope he will bring Al's legacy to life. He's been one of my fave musicians for over 25 years, and I'd love to see a high-quality film done about him.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

I'm a little on the fence about this, mainly because I still associate Daniel Radcliffe with Harry Potter...but I do hope he will bring Al's legacy to life. He's been one of my fave musicians for over 25 years, and I'd love to see a high-quality film done about him.

From the description, I don't imagine this being any serious attempt at a biopic but more of a spoof/reimagining of a biopic.

[Poya]

I reject this reality. That's like Mark Hamill playing Bob Dylan.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

From the description, I don't imagine this being any serious attempt at a biopic but more of a spoof/reimagining of a biopic.

The only part of the description that confused me was "...his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle." I was left thinking, "Since when?" As far as I know, Al's been married to the same woman since 2001, and I've never read of any cheating scandals or anything like that. His music has been mostly clean too, ever since the start in the '80s.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

The only part of the description that confused me was "...his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle." I was left thinking, "Since when?" As far as I know, Al's been married to the same woman since 2001, and I've never read of any cheating scandals or anything like that. His music has been mostly clean too, ever since the start in the '80s.

That's the joke of it all. I think they are gonna do a biopic as a joke and not actually be his life, a spoof. He is known for being clean and scandal free, so they won't do a traditional biopic about him.

[starsteam]

It's a Weird Al biopic, it's not going to be serious or truthful, much like The Compleat Al documentary was full of silly little exaggerated moments. It's much more dramatic to show a puny little Al bowing to a mighty Michael Jackson even if in reality it was just a basic phone call or letter.

[Moviefan2k4]

Well, that's just disappointing. I like to think I have a decent sense of humor, but I don't enjoy people being made fun of just for the sake of it...and in my opinion, Al deserves better.

[starsteam]

I don't think Al would want a serious movie made about his career. I don't think he would be attached to this film either if he didn't think it suited him. Weird Al is a person and a character. The Weird Al Show wasn't a actual representation of his life, and most of his cameo appearances are always exaggerations. He doesn't actually put mayonnaise in his hair like he showed on his Youtube channel. Even the behind the scenes feature for UHF was in on the joke. It's just part of his role.

[mrjeff]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

Well, that's just disappointing. I like to think I have a decent sense of humor, but I don't enjoy people being made fun of just for the sake of it...and in my opinion, Al deserves better.

Al is directly involved.

[captveg]

It's obviously a movie length version of the Funny or Die sketch.

I wonder if it'll stay Madonna that he has the "torrid celebrity love affair" with, or if they'll change up who it is with...