Weird Al Yankovic posing in front of the step and repeat for his Roku movie 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,' which was inspired by a Funny or Die post from 2010

Movies

‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’: Watch the Funny or Die Trailer That Inspired the Roku Movie

See the original trailer from 2010 that inspired the feature-length film 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' 12 years later.

by Lauren Anderson

Published on November 4, 2022

2 min read

Notorious B.I.G’s biopic inspired the Funny or Die trailer for ‘Weird’

Yankovic and his fictional counterpart Radcliffe participated in an AMA on Reddit the week of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story‘s release. When asked how the idea for the movie was conceived, Yankovic said the idea came from director Eric Appel, who created the trailer Funny or Die posted in 2010.

“[Appel] had just seen the Notorious B.I.G biopic (which, like most Hollywood biopics, is somewhat less than historically accurate),” Yankovic commented. “[He] thought it would be funny to do a super-dramatic biopic trailer for an artist that famously isn’t controversial or scandalous and he thought of me.”

Appel wanted to make the trailer for Funny or Die but needed Yankovic’s blessing first. Since he didn’t have a connection to the “Eat It” singer at the time, Appel asked their mutual friend Patton Oswalt to make the introduction.

“Not only did I immediately approve, but I said, ‘Hey, we should collaborate on this!'” Yankovic recalled. “So we got together that very evening and started knocking ideas around. Shortly after that, he directed the Funny Or Die clip … and 12 years after that, the full-length movie!”

Watch the original Funny or Die video that inspired ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’

“This film is sure to sweep next year’s Academy Awards,” the Funny or Die post reads. In the trailer, a young, accordion-loving Weird Al (Andrew Astor) feels misunderstood by his parents (Gary Cole, Mary Steenburgen).

Oswalt and Yankovic also appear in the trailer — they both appear in Weird, too. Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul plays a grown Weird Al along with Olivia Wilde as Madonna, the singer’s lover.

The trailer shows the fictional Yankovic’s rise to fame and struggles with alcohol. In the end, the parody singer gets what he wants — fame, glory, and the love and acceptance of his father.

Weird Al is ‘amazed’ lawyers let his biopic get made

Like the Funny or Die trailer, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is highly fictionalized. When Yankovic and Appel sat down to write the script, they changed facts “arbitrarily, just to change them” (via Billboard).

Some of the details in Weird are so off the rails, like Pablo Escobar being Yankovic’s number one fan, it’s easy to tell how dramatized the story is. Other aspects of the story, however, like the singer’s steamy relationship with pop star Madonna, will have viewers Googling for more information.

As Yankovic told the outlet, even he was surprised with how much they got away with exaggerating his story. “I’m amazed the lawyers let us get away with this movie, frankly,” he said. “But they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, all public figures … go for it.'”