Resurgent star Michael Keaton has spoken about his latest critically acclaimed role in The Founder, the story about the businessman who bought the McDonald’s franchise and built it to become one of the biggest companies in the world, Ray Kroc.

While working as a milkshake mixer salesman for Prince Castle, the middle-aged Kroc becomes a franchising agent for a fast-food restaurant, and helps the McDonald brothers (played by John Carroll Lynch and Nick Offerman) turn their idea into one of the most commercially successful business models in the world.

Keaton, 65, who won huge praise for his performance in the Oscar-winning movie Birdman in 2014, was asked at a red carpet event about what made him want to take on the role of one of the most successful businessmen in history in the first place.

“Well it’s a great story – a great American story,” he replied. “It says everything about business, and what business means, and consumption, and what we became.

“But honestly, just to simplify it, it’s really entertaining. This guy was a really amazing character, really amazing, with a lot to admire about his work ethic.”

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The screenplay for The Founder was written by Robert Siegel years ago, and for a long time was considered to be one of the best movies that hadn’t been picked up. John Lee Hancock, most notably known for directing Saving Mr. Banks in 2013, was assigned the project in 2014.

It was released in America on January 20th, to solid praise from critics, currently holding an 82% rating on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. To date, it has turned a reasonable profit of $12.6 million on the back of a production budget of $7 million, with many territories yet to see a release.

The Founder comes out in the United Kingdom on February 17th.

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