Daniel Radcliffe, best known for his role as Harry Potter, will play the lead role of Grammy-winning musician ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in the Roku original movie “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” Yankovic co-wrote the film with executive producer Eric Appel.
“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 stated.
The statement from Yankovic is clearly meant as a joke, considering Daniel Radcliffe is an award-winning actor best known for his role as Harry Potter in the Warner Bros. film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s novels of the same name. Since then, the actor has appeared in several other films and series, including his current comedy TV series “Miracle Workers” on TBS and the 2016 film “Swiss Army Man.” He will also star alongside Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in “The Lost City” this March.
It may come as a surprise to some that the “Harry Potter” star is willing to agree to certain indie and comedy films, but as Radcliffe told Empire last year, “I've actually found it's an incredibly liberating thing to do the biggest thing you're ever going to do really f---ing early. The financial success thing, that's done. So, just do things that make you happy!”
“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 we had to make a movie about it,” producer Eric Appel, who works for Funny or Die, jokingly stated.
‘Weird Al’ is best known for his parody covers of pop music, and is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time, having won 5 Grammys. His 2014 release of “Mandatory Fun” was the first comedy album in history to debut at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200. Yankovic rivals Madonna and Michael Jackson for landing top 40 hits in each of the last four decades.
Work for the Roku original film is scheduled to start in Los Angeles in February and will be produced by media companies Tango and Funny or Die.