If Birdman and Spotlight were any indication, Michael Keaton’s triumphant return to the acting scene has been welcomed by critics and fans alike, and the actor will be hoping to continue that streak later this year with real-life drama, The Founder.
Keaton will headline The Weinstein Company’s biopic as Ray Kroc, the astute businessman who transformed McDonald’s from a modest fast food chain to a global franchise, one which serves upwards of 68 million customers each and every day. That barnstorming revolution proved somewhat controversial, though, given that Kroc initially joined the company as a franchise agent during its formative years, before purchasing McDonald’s outright.
At the time, he set aside $1 million for each of the McDonald brothers, but by the time Kroc passed away in 1984, the sly businessman was worth close to $500 million, and the fast food chain has long established its presences as a global phenomenon.
We get to see glimpses of that meteoric rise in today’s first trailer for The Founder. Directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blindside), Keaton will be rubbing shoulders with Star Wars: Episode VIII alum Laura Dern, Patrick Wilson, Linda Cardellini, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch and B.J. Novak.
The Weinstein Company have aligned The Founder with a late summer release of August 5, when Michael Keaton’s biopic will open against David Ayer’s anti-hero feature, Suicide Squad. Beyond that, Keaton recently closed a deal to join Sony and Marvel’s rebooted Spider-Man: Homecoming.