Daniel Radcliffe plays "Weird Al" Yankovic in new biopic

“Weird Al” Yankovic wrote on Twitter that he’s “making a movie,” and sure enough, Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is set to play the Grammy-winning artist. Roku confirmed Tuesday (January 18) that WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story will be released early next month. The biopic delves into “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.”

“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,” Yankovic, hailed as the best-selling comedy recording artist of all time, said in a statement. “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.”

Eric Appel, who wrote and directed WEIRD: The Weird Al Yankovic Story, said he “didn’t believe any of it” when Yankovic told Appel about his life. But “I knew that we had to make a movie about it.”