The Founder is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel.
Starring Michael Keaton as businessman Ray Kroc, the film depicts the story of his creation of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain, which eventually involved forcing out the company's original founders to take control with conniving ruthlessness.
[6] The film premiered at Arclight Hollywood on December 7, 2016, and was released theatrically in the United States on January 20, 2017, by the Weinstein Company.
In 1954, struggling Prince Castle salesman Ray Kroc travels to San Bernardino, CA to meet Dick and Mac McDonald at their eponymous restaurant after the brothers purchase eight of his milkshake machines.
After an initial refusal, the brothers agree to a business deal under stringent contract terms and a lengthy approval process for potential changes.
Hungry for more growth, Kroc pursues wealthy local connections for investment in franchising and recruits Fred L. Turner as his business partner.
Emboldened, Kroc approaches his attorney for help getting out of his contract and further enacts changes to the franchises without Dick and Mac's approval, including the introduction of a powdered milkshake mix to bring down operating costs.
The film ends with the brothers being forced to change the name of their original location, and Kroc begins construction of a new McDonald's immediately across the street in San Bernardino.
[17][18] Production designer Michael Corenblith had previously worked on films including Apollo 13, Saving Mr. Banks and The Blind Side in which attention to historic detail was important.
The McDonald brothers' original octagonal San Bernardino restaurant was built in Newnan in the parking lot of the Coweta County administration building.
[19] After a month of searching for a suitable location, an old-style McDonald's building set with the "golden arches" was constructed in a church parking lot in seven working days in Douglasville, Georgia.
Rearrangement of exterior features such as parking lot striping allowed that set to serve as each franchise location portrayed in the film.
Both interior and exterior portions of the restaurant were modular, allowing countertops or entire wall-sized glass panes to be removed to make room for cameras and other equipment.
The website's critical consensus reads, "The Founder puts Michael Keaton's magnetic performance at the center of a smart, satisfying biopic that traces the rise of one of America's most influential businessmen – and the birth of one of its most far-reaching industries.
[2] Rolling Stone's Peter Travers gave the film three out of four stars, stating director Hancock and screenwriter Siegel did "strive hard—and mostly succeed—at keeping Hollywood sentiment out of the storytelling... Set more than a half-century ago, The Founder proves to be a movie for a divisive here and now.
It's an ad that becomes a warning before circling around and becoming another, darker kind of advertisement, and one of the most intriguing and surprising things about The Founder is that, in the end, it seems vaguely ashamed of itself for letting this happen".