Actor Daniel Radcliffe is set to star as Grammy-winning musician ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in the Roku original movie ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’.
The film is Roku’s first original biopic and will be available to stream exclusively on The Roku Channel. The project is produced by Funny Or Die and Tango. Yankovic co-wrote the film’s script with Eric Appel, who is also set to direct the project, reports variety.com.
The official ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ synopsis from Roku reads: “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.”
‘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.
“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,” said Yankovic 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.”
Colin Davis, Roku’s Head of Original Scripted Programming, added: “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.
“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.”
“Weird Al” Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time and a five-time Grammy winner. The musician’s 2014 release Mandatory Fun was the first comedy album in history to debut at number one on Billboard’s Top 200 chart.
Production on the biopic begins in Los Angeles in early February.