Daniel Radcliffe’s First Official Look as Weird Al Released by Roku Channel

Daniel Radcliffe is playing “Weird Al” Yankovic in a new movie for the Roku Channel, and we now have our first official look at the Harry Potter star in his new role. A new photo was released by the streaming service, showing Radcliffe in a curly wig, glasses, and a mustache. He’s also holding an accordion and rocking a Hawaiian shirt, which Yankovic was known for wearing in her early years. The new biopic film is titled Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and it is directed by Eric Appel from a script he wrote with Yankovic.

In a previous statement on the new film, Appel joked, “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.” Yankovic added, per Deadline, “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. 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.” At this time, there are no other confirmed cast members, but Olivia Wilde, Gary Cole, Mary Steenburgen, and Patton Oswalt all appeared in a short teaser trailer.

Roku’s Head of Original Scripted Programming, Colin Davis, also commented on the new project, sharing his excitement to be part of 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,” he said. “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.” 

In addition to Roku’s involvement, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is being produced by Funny or Die and Tango. Henry Muñoz III, Funny Or Die’s Chairman and an executive producer on the film, said, “I am excited that my first project as the owner of Funny Or Die Studios is to help bring the story of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic to the screen.” At this time, the film does not have an announced release date, but it is currently in production and filming is underway.