Story of McDonald's founder, Ray Kroc, to hit the big screen
Kroc's tale of going from selling milkshake machines to building global empire featured
McDonald's early history looks set to hit the big screen in a tale of corporate intrigue described as being in the style of Oscar-winning Facebook movie, .
John Lee Hancock, director of and Walt Disney biopic , is in talks to direct the project, according to the . Titled , the biopic will focus on the 1950s battle for control of the nascent fast-food restaurant chain between founders Mac and Dick McDonald and Illinois businessman Ray Kroc.
Kroc, a salesman known for his aggressive business practices, became involved with McDonald's in 1954, a year after the company began franchising its fast-food system, name and restaurant design. By 1961 he had moved from selling the brothers eight "multi-mixer" milkshake machines to purchasing the company in its entirety for US$2.7 million. The McDonald siblings retained their original restaurant in San Bernardino, California, but were forced to rename it "The Big M" as they had failed to retain rights to the original name.
The business's new owner is also said to have reneged on a handshake arrangement for the McDonalds to receive 1 per cent on gross sales at all the chain's restaurants, which would have brought the brothers and their heirs more than US$100 million a year if it had been honoured. Kroc went on to build the firm into the most successful fast-food operation in the world: there are now 35,000 outlets.
