Daniel Radcliffe of "Harry Potter" fame has signed on to play "Weird Al" Yankovic in a biopic about the parody musician.
"WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story" will exclusively stream on The Roku Channel. In a release announcing the movie, Roku promised an "unbelievable journey" that takes fans through Yankovic's career "from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time," including trips through "his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle."
Yankovic, who has won five Grammys, is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist ever. Some of his parody songs include "Eat It" to Michael Jackson's "Beat It", "Party in the CIA" to Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" and "Tacky" in the style of Pharrell's "Happy."
“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.”
Yankovic co-wrote the feature-length film and production is set to begin in February in Los Angeles. Eric Appel also co-wrote the movie and will direct and serve as executive producer.
“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," Appel said in a statement.
