Feature film original comedy will star Daniel Radcliffe
Roku has announced an all-new feature film about the prolific career of Grammy-winning musician and pop cultural icon “Weird Al” Yankovic. Produced by Funny Or Die and Tango, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will be available exclusively on The Roku Channel. Production on the biopic begins in Los Angeles in early February.
The Roku Original film will star Daniel Radcliffe in the titular role of “Weird Al” Yankovic. The biopic holds nothing back, exploring 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. The 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.
“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,” states Yankovic. “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,” adds 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.”
The film is written by Yankovic and executive producer and director Eric Appel. The film is produced by Funny Or Die and Tango. 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.
“Weird Al” Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time. A five-time Grammy winner, his 2014 release Mandatory Fun was the first comedy album in history to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200. He is 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 awarded the comedian/singer with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
