Daniel Radcliffe stars in Bizarre Al Yankovic biopic

Since his Hogwarts days, Daniel Radcliffe has devoted his career to quirky indie films rather than Potteresque blockbusters — and now it looks like he’s found the odd character. its best to date.

Radcliffe will star as “Weird Al” Yankovic in upcoming biopic Strange: The Story of Al Yankovic, based on The Hollywood Reporter, in an upcoming film co-written by Yankovic himself.

In an announcement Tuesday, the beloved parody artist said: “When my last movie UHF released in 1989, I solemnly swore to my fans that I would release a major feature film every 33 years, like the hands of a clock. I’m happy to say that we’re on track… And I’m really excited that Daniel Radcliffe will play me in the movie. I have no doubt that this is a role that future generations will remember him for.”

The Yankovic film will begin filming in Los Angeles next month and will be released exclusively on the Roku channel. It was co-written by Eric Appel, who will also direct the feature. He commented, “When Weird Al first forced me to go against his will and tell me his life story, I didn’t believe it, but I knew that we had to make a series. movies about it.”

Roku’s head of original scripting, Colin Davis, said: “It’s clear that there aren’t enough biopics about famous musicians and we’re excited to unravel the incredibly authentic story. , no exaggeration by Weird Al … This is really the ultimate combination of talent, creativity and friends, coming together to make something really funny and we couldn’t help ourselves. Proud to call this movie Roku Original. ”

Radcliffe has not yet commented on his new role, but he has previously made it clear that, when choosing his character, he likes to be weird.

Talking to Empire last year, he say: “I actually find it an incredibly comforting thing to do the biggest thing that you’re going to do really soon… Financially successful, that’s it. So just do the things that make you happy… Like, for every director out there that says, ‘I can only see him as Harry Potter’, there’s been at least one saying, ” I wonder if he’s actually doing this damn weird thing?’ And I was!”