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Daniel Radcliffe to play Weird Al Yankovic in new biopic

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As a young actor, Daniel Radcliffe made his name in the Harry Potter film series, but he’ll be portraying a real music hero in his next role. Deadline is reporting that Radcliffe has signed on to play musician “Weird Al” Yankovic in a new biopic for The Roku Channel. Appropriately, it will be called Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, with a screenplay by Yankovic and Eric Appel, the latter of whom is also slated to direct the film. Appel previously directed a short version of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story in 2010 for Funny or Die, which is set to produce the film with Roku.

For the last four decades, Yankovic has stood out from the pack by parodying his fellow musicians with infectiously catchy comedic songs performed in different styles. According to Roku, Yankovic’s biopic will “hold nothing back and explore every facet of his life, from his childhood through his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’ and ‘Like a Surgeon,’ while touching on his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle.” Obviously they’re kidding about the love affairs and the “famously depraved lifestyle.”

Image used with permission by copyright holder

“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,” said Yankovic 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.”

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“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,” added 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.”

UHF Official Trailer #1 - Kevin McCarthy Movie (1989) HD

Radcliffe recently appeared in Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts alongside many of his former castmates. But the former child actor has remained busy since he left the franchise over a decade ago. He currently stars in the TBS comedy series, Miracle Workers, and he has a supporting role in the upcoming film, The Lost City.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will begin filming in Los Angeles next month. A release date hasn’t been set yet.

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Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
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