Emerson Phillips
This fall Roku will release an original film on its free streaming channel about parody artist ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, starring Daniel Radcliffe.
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No release date has been announced yet for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” The film will be produced by Funny Or Die and Tango, Roku announced at its 2022 NewFronts presentation Tuesday at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City.
On Tuesday Roku released the teaser for the film.
Watch it here:
The movie is billed as the “untold true story” of Yankovic, documenting “Weird Al’s” rise to fame with early hits like Eat It and Like a Surgeon — parodies of mega-hits Beat It by Michael Jackson and Like a Virgin by Madonna.
The film will also delve into Weird Al’s “torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle.”
It’s really more of a scripted mockumentary and a spoof.
Weird will also star Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna; Rainn Wilson as radio broadcaster Dr. Demento; and Julianne Nicholson and Toby Huss as Yankovic’s parents, Mary and Nick.
“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,” Yankovic said.
Yankovic has won five Grammy awards. His 2014 release Mandatory Fun was the first comedy album in history to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart.
Also at its NewFronts session, Roku announced development deals to create seven original cooking and lifestyle shows starring Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse and Christopher Kimball, along with agreements to bring past seasons of their shows to the Roku Channel.
NewFronts is an event that gives media companies an opportunity to show off their upcoming digital content in front of advertisers. They’re run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and stretch nine days from April 28 to May 8 in New York City. This is the third year they’ve happened.
