Overview
In his time playing Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe did many things. He didn't cut like a surgeon, get himself an egg and beat it, or lose on Jeopardy, though. And, he certainly didn't don the curliest of wigs, swan around in Hawaiian shirts with his chest hair flapping in the breeze or pick up an accordion, either — but something magical is making all of the above happen.
Starring Radcliffe as the musician behind 'My Bologna', 'Another One Rides the Bus', 'Like a Surgeon', 'Eat It', 'Smells Like Nirvana' and 'Amish Paradise' — and parodies of pretty much every other big song of the past four-plus decades that you can think of — Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is exactly what it sounds like. It sounds wonderful, too, obviously. Radcliffe sports wire-framed glasses, those shirts, that hair and Yankovic's instantly recognisable moustache in the music biopic, which feels like it was cast by the internet.
Made for the Roku Channel in the US — with no details yet dropping about where it'll air Down Under, or when, sadly — this is 100-percent an authorised bio. Yankovic is one of the screenwriters, in fact, alongside director Eric Appel (a TV sitcom veteran with Happy Endings, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and top-notch cop-show parody NTSF:SD:SUV on this resume). If the man in the spotlight's career has taught us all anything apart from the wrong words to pop hits, however, it's that he doesn't take a single thing, including himself, seriously.
In the just-dropped first teaser trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, everyone is clearly having fun — The Lost City and Guns Akimbo's Radcliffe most of all, naturally. He swigs booze onstage, dances around in scrubs while satirising Madonna, and asks a very important question: "anyone got an accordion?".
Also set to feature: Yankovic's rise to fame, oh-so-many tracks, everything from "his torrid celebrity love affairs" to his "famously depraved lifestyle", and a story that follows his journey "from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time" — at least according to the original press release revealing the flick, which sports a healthy sense of humour.
When the film was announced, Yankovic gave his input too, of course. "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," he said.
"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."
Check out the trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story below:
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story doesn't yet have a release date Down Under — we'll update you when further details are announced.