With the recent release of WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, the decades-spanning work of Weird Al Yankovic is back in the spotlight. The musician has become a ubiquitous part of our popular culture thanks to his satirical songs, which have not only included polka covers of popular songs, but reimagined parodies of existing songs or franchises. As Yankovic revealed in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he revealed one franchise that he wasn’t actually able to parody — Harry Potter. According to Yankovic, Warner Bros., the studio who was behind the film adaptations, either shut down the idea entirely or never responded to it.
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“Whenever it was, about a decade or two ago, I approached the movie company just to get a general blessing like, ‘Hey, I’d like to do a Harry Potter parody.’ And I think they said no, or they never responded or whatever,” Yankovic revealed. “But sometimes when you’re dealing with franchises, and you ask permission, you know, there’s so many people that can say no, and they usually do.”
“If I’m doing a franchise, it’s usually better just to do it and ask for forgiveness rather than permission,” Yankovic added.
In a weird full-circle moment, Yankovic was eventually portrayed in WEIRD by Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe — and that has led the musician to regard the film itself as the long-awaited parody.
“We like to think that that’s the last movie of the Harry Potter franchise,” Yankovic joked.
What is the Weird Al biopic about?
In WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, Daniel Radcliffe is “Weird” Al Yankovic in the unexaggerated true story about the greatest musician of our time. From a conventional upbringing where playing the accordion was a sin, Al rebelled and made his dream of changing the words to world-renowned songs come true. An instant success and sex symbol, Al lives an excessive lifestyle and pursues an infamous romance that nearly destroys him. With Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, and an A-list cast of thousands their agents won’t let us reveal.
“I feel like my favorite Al song changes every few weeks,” Radcliffe explained in an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com. “I liked the Polkas before, but like, after having spent just the smallest amount of time trying to play an accordion, listening to what he does on those songs is so mind blowing to me. Definitely a greater appreciation for them.”
What do you think of Weird Al not being able to parody the Harry Potter films? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story is streaming exclusively on Roku.
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