Despite Weird Al “Begging,” Roku Won’t Submit ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ Song for Oscars: “It Breaks My Heart”

Weird Al Yankovic would love to land an Oscar nomination for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, but the Roku Channel has other ideas.

Over the credits of his new movie—which will begin streaming free on the Roku Channel on November 4—Yankovic treats his fans to a brand new original song, “Now You Know,” which includes a lyric that helpfully reminds listeners, “This song is technically eligible for Oscar consideration!”

It’s one of many funny jokes in Yankovic’s absurd “biopic,” which does not tell the true story of the parody musician’s rise to fame, but does perfectly capture the wacky, warm-hearted humor that made him a legend to so many. But it’s also not quite a joke. Yankovic told Decider he would love to submit the song for consideration at the Academy Awards. No doubt his fans would be thrilled to see that Hawaiian shirt—which has already graced the red carpet of the Grammys 12 times—at the 2023 Oscars.

But, the comedian said in an interview with Decider, Roku is not willing to give the movie the one-week theatrical release it would need to become Oscar-eligible.

“I’ve been begging Roku for months to make that happen,” Yankovic told Decider when asked if he would submit for Best Song at the 2023 Oscars. “All that needs to happen is the movie needs to play in a small theater in Los Angeles for one week. That’s all that needs to happen. And Roku does not want to do that.”

The reason, Yankovic said, is because Roku would prefer to have Weird be Emmy-eligible. And while the Oscars require movies have a theatrical release, the 2022 rules for the Emmys specifically state that “any film placed on the AMPAS viewing platform”—the platform used to screen Oscar hopefuls for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—will be ineligible for an Emmy.

“It breaks my heart,” Yankovic confessed. “I figured this is my one chance at an Oscar nomination.”

But, he added, he does understand Roku’s reasoning—even if he doesn’t agree. “I don’t agree with this logic, but they say that they’re in the TV business, not the movie business. So they would rather have a Creative Arts Emmy than an Oscar, is what I was told. So again, it feels like weird logic to me, but I have to accept that. I don’t hold any grudges. I mean, I’m just thankful the movie got made.”

Decider reached out to Roku for comment and received the following statement from Roku Head of Originals David Eilenberg: “As far as we’re concerned, Al deserves an EGOT, a Nobel Prize, and Sexiest Man Alive. But the Motion Picture and Television Academies have made it clear that being nominated by one precludes you from being nominated by the other, and The Roku Channel is ultimately a platform devoted to creating the best possible experiences for television. We are forever honored that Al and everyone involved with this amazing movie made us their partner, and we look forward to making Weird freely available to stream and enjoy for millions of TV viewers everywhere.”

For their part, Weird stars Daniel Radcliffe and Evan Rachel Wood tried their best to publicly voice their support for the Weird Al Oscar campaign. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month, Wood, who plays Madonna  in the film said, “See you at the Oscars. It should [win]. It’s his time.”

Radcliffe, who plays Al himself, echoed the sentiment later in the interview. “I’d like to just once again plug that Al should win an Oscar for the song.” Wood agreed, adding, “We’re seriously campaigning — it starts today.”

For fans who want to hop on the campaign, it’s not too late. According to the rules for the 95th Academy Awards, movies released on streaming “on or after the first day of their theatrical qualifying run” are still eligible to submit. In other words, day-and-date releases still count. There are still a few days left to throw together a one-week theatrical run beginning on November 4, when the movie releases on Roku. Get those Twitter hashtags trending—one can only imagine how epic a Weird Al speech at the Oscars would be.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will begin streaming on Roku Channel on November 4. The movie will be free to anyone who downloads the Roku Channel app or visits the Roku Channel on a web browser. No subscription is needed.