‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Says Warner Bros. Once Denied His Request to Parody the Harry Potter Theme - IndieWire

Add “Weird Al” Yankovic to the increasing database of artists slighted by the higher-ups astatine Warner Bros.

No, the parody instrumentalist didn’t person a streaming task caught up successful the Discovery merger; his biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” debuted astatine TIFF successful September and is distributed by The Roku Channel. Rather successful an interview with the Hollywood Reporter promoting Eric Appel’s caller film, Yankovic lamented 1 of the galore properties he’s been denied the rights to parody due to the fact that of a large movie studio. The culprit? Harry Potter.

“Whenever it was, astir a decennary oregon 2 ago, I approached the movie institution conscionable to get a wide blessing like, ‘Hey, I’d similar to bash a Harry Potter parody,” Yankovic recalled. “And I deliberation they said no, oregon they ne'er responded oregon whatever… But sometimes erstwhile you’re dealing with franchises, and you inquire permission, you know, there’s truthful galore radical that tin accidental no, and they usually do.”

It’s an ironic anecdote connected (at least) 2 fronts. First, Harry Potter and its soundtrack person been parodied endlessly: appearing successful everything from the YouTube sensation “Potter Puppet Pals” to Darren Criss and A. J. Holmes’ signifier accumulation “A Very Potter Musical.” Potter parody is simply a supersaturated marketplace present and, assuming Yankovic’s timeline is correct, wasn’t overmuch little crowded backmost then.

Second, Daniel Radcliffe — Harry Potter himself — would spell connected to play a heightened mentation of Yankovic successful “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” The brace struck up a relationship during accumulation with Yankovic helping Radcliffe extensively to prepare.

“Honestly, the happening that we worked connected the astir unneurotic was the accordion,” Radcliffe told IndieWire astatine TIFF. “He gave maine immoderate accordion lessons, which is thing that I tin instrumentality to my sedate that I had that moment. I don’t request thing else.”

“[Yankovic] is truthful authentically himself and that has led to this fantastic film, arsenic good arsenic his unthinkable career,” Radcliffe continued. “This is not a movie that we expect you to beryllium down and instrumentality a motivation from the story. But if determination is thing to it, it’s astir leaning into your ain weirdness and that being a mode of uncovering your ain happiness.”

It’s a connection Yankovic echoed again successful his interrogation with the Hollywood Reporter. “If I’m doing a franchise, it’s usually amended conscionable to bash it and inquire for forgiveness alternatively than permission,” helium continued, earlier joking: “We similar to deliberation that [‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’] is the past movie of the Harry Potter franchise.”

“Maybe that’s what this movie is,” Radcliffe said, besides to the Hollywood Reporter. “This has been his mode of doing a Harry Potter parody.”

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