Michael Keaton is Ray Kroc in the Trailer for The Founder

Posted on April 25, 2016

McDonald's gets the Social Network treatment n the first trailer for The Founder. Michael Keaton plays the legendary Ray Kroc, the man who turned a mom and pop hamburger joint into an international empire. The movie tells the McDonald's story in a way that is less than flattering to Kroc. Kroc was a milkshake machine salesman who sold some equipment to the McDonald brothers (John Carroll Lynch and a clean-shaven Nick Offerman) who had pioneered a faster way of making burgers and getting them to customers faster.

Kroc saw the potential in the method and convinced the brothers to franchise their burger restaurant. He bought the company for $2.7 million in 1961. The brothers and Kroc got along great for a while, but relations soured when the brothers didn't really want to go national. Kroc mortgaged his house to help with the expansion and it was his smarts that turned one restaurant into a multibillion dollar company.

Kroc says the key to his success was "persistence." Others said the key was being absolutely ruthless. The film was directed by John Lee Hancock, and also stars Laura Dern, Linda Cardellini, Patrick Wilson and B.J. Novak. It's early days yet, but Keaton's amazing performance is already generating Oscar buzz. The Weintsteins have moved the release date up to August 4, 2016. Take a look:

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