The Founder trailer: First look at Oscar-tipped film about dark origins of McDonald’s

'McDonald's can be the new American church, and it ain't just open on Sundays.'

(The Weinstein Company)

The Weinstein Company has released the first trailer for The Founder, which stars Michael Keaton and centres on Ray Kroc, the cutthroat businessman who made McDonald’s a fast food empire.

The film’s made early Oscars 2017 predictions lists (if just because Keaton starred in the last two Best Picture winners, Birdman and Spotlight), and comes from The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks director John Lee Hancock.

While the rise of McDonald’s is an intriguing topic, especially given the chain’s recent decline, the film does look a bit trope-laden from the trailer, all ruthless business one-liners and ‘one man’s quest to make a fortune’.

The script comes from Robert D. Siegel (The Wrestler), with Nick Offerman, BJ Noval and Laura Dern all featuring.

It’s expected to hit cinemas on 5 August, 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.'