Once poised as a potential Oscar season player with a prime November release date, The Weinstein Company shook up expectations when they moved “The Founder” up to August instead. Hopefully that isn’t an indication of the quality of the movie, because on paper, it sounds quite promising.
Michael Keaton leads the movie as Ray Kroc, the man with a dream of selling burgers across the country and around the world. Yep, this is the movie about how McDonald’s became a fast food giant, and telling the tale is director John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side,” “Saving Mr. Banks“) with a script by Robert D. Siegel (“The Wrestler“). Here’s the official synopsis:
Written by Robert Siegel (BIG FAN), THE FOUNDER is a drama that tells the true story of how Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a salesman from Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers’ speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. He maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a billion-dollar empire.
Co-starring Nick Offerman, Linda Cardellini, Laura Dern, BJ Novak, and John Caroll Lynch, “The Founder” opens on August 5th.