Weird: The Al Yankovic Story opened the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival, where hopeful audience members began lining up more than two hours before the midnight screening at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, some in their finest Hawaiian-print shirts and curly wigs. There were also at least two accordions spotted on the line.
Weird, which “Weird Al” Yankovic co-wrote with director Eric Appel (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Silicon Valley) and produced, stars Daniel Radcliffe as a subversive version of Yankovic, seen in the trailer shirtless, swilling whiskey in scene and entertaining Madonna (played by Evan Rachel Wood) amid accordion riffs.
The film is a feature on a fake trailer over a decade published by Funny or Die, starring Aaron Paul as Al and Olivia Wilde as Madonna. At the premiere, Appel compared the feature to other musical biopics such as Rocketman, as well as Forrest Gump and Boogie Nights.
The boisterous audience sang and clapped along to Jankovic’s on-screen songs, including “I Love Rocky Road” and “Amish Paradise.” After the screening, Yankovic (wearing a Hawaiian print shirt), Appel, Wood and Radcliffe took the stage to applause.
Ever since Weird debuted with its first appearance featuring Radcliffe dressed as Yankovic and holding an accordion, the film has been eagerly awaited. “It was a very easy conversation,” Radcliffe said of agreeing to star as the parody singer-songwriter.
On screen, Radcliffe can be seen expertly playing Yankovic’s signature instrument. “I did my best,” the actor said with a laugh. “It’s a very tough instrument.” In preparation for the film, Radcliffe received instructional videos via email from Yankovic that he said he would “treasure for the rest of my life”.
“And I got to be in the trailer next to him while he was training,” Wood interjected to laughs from the audience. But Wood was not alone in confronting his musical styles. “There was about a month between learning the verse of ‘My Bologna’ and the chorus, so my girlfriend was living in a perpetual hellscape,” Radcliffe said.
The film features an original song by Yankovic that plays over the end credits, during which he sings about the song being eligible for an Oscar. The Grammy winner noted that they are currently in talks with record labels to release the film’s soundtrack, including the original score. When asked if there would be a sequel to the comedy, Yankovic said, “I think there should be.”
Weird will premiere on Roku on November 4th.
