“He took someone else’s idea, and America ate it up.” So goes the tagline for the upcoming bio The Founder starring Michael Keaton (Birdman). The tone – the film was directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) from a screenplay by Robert D. Siegel (The Wrestler) – suggests a cynical bent for a movie centered around Ray Kroc, the man who built the McDonald’s fast food empire.
Kroc was a businessman who expanded the fast food mecca (started by Richard and Maurice McDonald) and The Founder explores just how he did that. Keaton portrays the man and on present pedigree alone may look to add to his widely acclaimed group of characters he’s play in the last few years. Starting with his career resurgence in the 2014 dark comedy Birdman (which won the Oscar for Best Picture), Keaton quickly followed with an about-faced but equally acclaimed role in the 2015 journalist procedure Spotlight (which also won the Oscar for Best Picture). Wonder if the former Batman and Beetlejuice alum can maintain that tony momentum?
The Founder also stars Oscar nominee Laura Dern (Wild), Patrick Wilson (Little Children), B.J. Novak (Saving Mr. Banks), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Linda Cardellini (Avengers: Age of Ultron) and John Carroll Lynch (Zodiac). The Weinstein Company will release the film on August 5th. Check out the first one-sheet below: