Does the origin of a popular restaurant chain make for an entertaining Hollywood story? Maybe not in most cases, but when it comes to the complicated formation of McDonald's and the film stars Oscar winner Michael Keaton as the man at the top, expectations are greater than the calories in a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese.
The first trailer for The Founder features Keaton as Ray Kroc, the milkshake salesman who acquired, some say through dubious means, the burger shop owned by two brothers and turned it into a fast food giant using their brilliant burger-making system. The film was written by Robert Siegel (The Wrestler) and directed by John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks); between the two of them and what appears to be an entertaining con-man role for Keaton this is sure to more than just your standard biopic.
The potential is out of this world from a box office perspective. There's a McDonald's, sometimes two or three, on every street in some cities. It's an unavoidable, unbeatable American institution, and learning how it came to be should be fascinating.
Also starring Nick Offerman, B.J. Novak, John Caroll Lynch, Laura Dern, and Linda Cardellini, The Founder opens August 5th.
