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“Weird Al” Yankovic refused permission for a Harry Potter parody


“Weird Al” Yankovic refused permission for a Harry Potter parody

“Weird Al” Yankovic claims Warner Bros. banned him from parodying the “Harry Potter” theme.

The 63-year-old musician – who is played by Daniel Radcliffe, the title star of the wizarding series, in his new biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” – has put his own spin on songs like the “Star Wars” theme and “Gangsta’s Paradise” from “Dangerous Minds” in the past, but when he asked for permission to rework “Hedwig’s Theme,” the idea was quickly rejected.

He said: “Whenever that was, about ten or two decades ago, I would approach the film company just to get a general approval, like, ‘Hey, I’d like to do a Harry Potter parody.’ And I think they said no or never responded or whatever.”

“But sometimes when you’re dealing with franchises and you ask for permission, there are so many people who can say no, and they usually do.” THR has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment.

Al joked that this affront served as a lesson for future parodies.

He said: “When I do a franchise, it’s usually better to just do it and ask for forgiveness rather than permission,” he explained.

But the “Gump” singer is still a fan of the “Harry Potter” series and joked that “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is his favorite film in the saga.

He joked: “We like to think that this is the last film in the Harry Potter series.”

And actor Daniel joked that the whole film could be seen as the parody that Al was never able to record.

He said: “Maybe this is the film. This is his way of doing a Harry Potter parody.”

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