Daniel Radcliffe to play “Weird Al” Yankovic in upcoming biopic

Daniel Radcliffe is about to get weird.

Today, it was announced that the actor will star in a new biopic about comedy music legend “Weird Al” Yankovic.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story was written by Yankovic and Eric Appel, with Appel also directing the film. According to the official synopsis, the film “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.”

The film’s title comes from a Funny or Die fake trailer that was created back in 2010. Funny or Die is on board to executive produce the film, which starts shooting next month and will be available exclusively on The Roku Channel.

“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. “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.”

“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.”

“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,” said 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.”