McDonald's film is Oscar-worthy and highly controversial, claims Harvey Weinstein

The Founder, starring Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, is set for major rewards in the upcoming year

We've barely placed that dearly coveted Oscar into Leonardo DiCaprio's waiting hands, and yet already all eyes have turned to next year's potentially winning crop.

One man has already launched ahead of the race; the very man we last saw at the Academy Awards themselves, screaming "F**k yeah!" into the beckoning night when his film Spotlight landed Best Picture.

That man is, of course, Michael Keaton; who also happened to star in 2015's Best Picture winner, Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman.

And, now, producer Harvey Weinstein thinks Keaton's next film could strike gold once more; perhaps even landing the actor his own shiny gold man. Keaton stars in The Founder, which charters how Illinois salesman Ray Kroc took control of a hamburger restaurant owned by the McDonald brothers and exploded it into one of the world's most profitable companies.

In a press statement (via Digital Spy), Weinstein praised Keaton's performance as Kroc as "incredible"; before describing it as "brilliant and one of the most controversial films I have had the pleasure to be associated."

The Founder is directed by Saving Mr. Banks' John Lee Hancock and written by The Wrestler's Robert D. Siegel; its cynically-pitched take on greed, power, and business seems to fall in line with the trends set out by The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short.

"The story of Ray Kroc should ignite adult audiences this summer and send the incredible team of John Lee Hancock and Michael Keaton back to the Dolby Theatre," Weinstein continued.

Though its release date has been pushed forward outside of the Oscar season and its original 25 November release, now set to 5 August; Weinstein insisted that he is, "determined to show that adult fare and award-caliber movies should be able to open any time of year and be successful."

Keaton stars alongside Laura Dern, Nick Offerman, and Linda Cardellini. There's no word yet on when the UK release will be.