Daniel Radcliffe is set to play the Grammy-winning musician ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in the Roku original movie. The film is titled Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and will be Roku’s first original biopic. The film is bankrolled by Funny Or Die and Tango.
According to Roku, “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.”
According to reports in Variety, Radcliffe-starrer is set to be directed by Eric Appel, who co-wrote the script with Yankovic. Production on the biopic begins in Los Angeles in early February.
In a statement, Yankovic said, “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.”
He also added, “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.” Weird Al’ Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist, a five-time Grammy winner and his 2014 release Mandatory Fun happens to be the first comedy album to debut at number one on Billboard’s Top 200 chart.