Harry Potter in Weird Al Yankovic biopic

Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe plays musician Weird Al Yankovic in the singer’s biopic.

We are treated to a biopic of Weird Al Yankovic and the lead role is played by none other than Harry Potter. For those who don’t know Weird Al Yankovic, Weird Al is a musician best known for parodies of hits by others. Think of Like a Surgeon, Another one rides the bus and Pretty Fly for a Jedi.

Only half of his songs are on his albums of which he sold about 12 million. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018 and regularly appears in films and TV series. Not bad for someone who mainly edits and releases other people’s songs.

Parodies

Weird Al Yankovic has become very well known to the general public through those parodies. The music is almost the same as the original or topped with a polka sauce. The lyrics are well thought out and often satirical or socially critical. For example, he brought Amish Paradise off, a parody of Gangsta’s Paradise by Coolio in which he mocks the Amish faith community.

In general, Weird Al asks and gets permission from the artist of the original song for a parody, although US law does not necessarily require it. But for the sake of peace he chooses this anyway.

Michael Jackson

Many artists are also honored when Yankovic chooses their song. Michael Jackson even borrowed the set of the music video from bath out to him for the parody fat. Dave Grohl once said in an interview, when Weird Al Yankovic made a parody of our Nirvana hit Smells Like Teen Spirit we knew we had made it.

Back to the movies. Yankovic is jointly responsible for the script with director Eric Appel and tells the never-before-told true story of the musician. The film holds nothing back and shows all facets of his life. From his depraved lifestyle to his affairs with celebrities and his rise to global stardom.

There is a lot to laugh about in the movie and a lot to enjoy music. In addition to Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood stars as Madonna and Rain Wilson stars as radio host Dr. dementia.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will be released on the Roku Channel on November 4. A free streaming service in the United States. Whether and how the film will be shown in the Netherlands is still unknown, so we’ll have to wait and see. We are really looking forward to it!