From Magic to Music: Daniel Radcliffe to essay ‘Weird Al’ in biopic

The film will explore the musician's meteoric rise to fame to his celebrity love affairs and depraved lifestyle

It seems like an opening for another massive fandom world for Daniel Radcliffe! The Harry Potter star will essay the role of Grammy-winning musician 'Weird Al' Yankovic in the Roku original biopic titled Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Yankovic is “thrilled” about the casting choice and “has no doubt that this is the role future generations will remember Daniel Radcliffe for.”

As per the official synopsis from Roku, the storyline “holds nothing back.” It claims to “explore 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.”

“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story takes audiences on a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time,” the synopsis reads. Yankovic made a solemn vow to his fans on the release of his last film, the 1989 UHF that he “would release a major motion picture every 33 years, like clockwork,” and apparently, that he will deliver. “I’m very happy to say we’re on schedule,” said Yankovic in a statement.

Colin Davis, Roku’s Head of Original Scripted Programming, is of the opinion that the industry lacks biopics on famous musicians and is proud to initiate on such a raw level. “We were excited to shine a light on the incredibly true, unexaggerated story of Weird Al. 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,” said Davis.

Being the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time and a five-time Grammy winner, “Weird Al” Yankovic has broken records and made history in his lifetime.

Co-written by Yankovic himself and director Eric Appel, the film will mark Roku’s first original biopic and will be available to stream exclusively on The Roku Channel. Yankovic co-wrote the film’s script with Eric Appel, who is also set to direct the project. Produced by Funny Or Die and Tango, the film will begin shooting in Los Angeles next month.

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