Roku’s ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ Indeed Looks… Weird

On May 3, Roku released a teaser trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. And it indeed looks weird, with some hints that it might be a bit different than most biographies.

The movie stars Daniel Radcliffe as the famous singer. There are only a few shots from the film and most of them seem goofy (although not in a bad way). For instance, one shot shows a shirtless Radcliffe, who looks more muscular than I would think Yankovic would’ve been at a similar age (although I honestly don’t know), drinking from a bottle and then spitting the fluid in the air. Yes, this could be depicting something that the singer really did. But there’s a humorous air to it all—a hint that it’s taking a bit more of a surreal approach to telling a life story than what one normally gets from biopics. Just my impression, of course. And again, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Variety reports that “[t]he movie is billed as a [sic] ‘untold true story’ of Yankovic.’ And it added that “‘Weird’ also stars 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.”

Variety also noted that Yankovic himself is involved with the film. “‘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 in a statement when the project was first announced in January.”

It’s impossible to tell at this point what tone the movie will have. Will it tell Yankovic’s story in a straightforward way? Or will it have a little bit more fun with it than a normal biography would?

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is currently set to release on Roku’s “free streaming channel this fall.”