Roku announced an original biopic centered on the career of “Weird Al” Yankovic. Daniel Radcliffe will portray the Grammy-winning musician and pop cultural icon in WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story. The feature film is produced by Funny Or Die and Tango and will be available exclusively on The Roku Channel with production scheduled to take place in Los Angeles in early February. WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story promises to hold nothing back when it comes to exploring every facet of Yankovic’s storied 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.
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“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.”
“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.”
Yankovic along with Eric Appel are credited as writers on WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story. Appel is also pulling double duty as director and executive producer. Al Yankovic produces, along with Mike Farah, Joe Farrell and Whitney Hodack for Funny Or Die, and Tim Headington, Lia Buman and Max Silva for Tango. Funny Or Die’s Henry Muñoz III and Tango’s Neil Shah are executive producers.
“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,” writer anddirector Eric Appel added.
“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 andhis 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,” said Henry Muñoz III, Funny Or Die Chairman and executive producer. “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 storyof a man who has made people laugh and sing across the world.”
Some of Yankovic’s accomplishments include being the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time, and a five-time Grammy winner. His 2014 release Mandatory Fun was the first comedy album inhistory to debut at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200. He is also one of only three artists to have had their own Top 40 hits in each of the last four decades — the other two being Michael Jackson and Madonna. On August 27, 2018, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce awardedWeird Al with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
