What is the name of the film about the founding of McDonald's?
Answer
The Founder
Answer
The Founder
The film about the founding and rise of McDonald's is The Founder. Released in 2016, the biographical drama stars Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, the salesman who helped turn the McDonald brothers' restaurant concept into a global chain.
Directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel, the film begins in 1954, when Kroc visits Richard and Maurice McDonald's highly efficient restaurant in San Bernardino, California. Their streamlined kitchen system impresses him, and he sees the potential for expansion through franchising. The story follows his increasingly complicated relationship with the brothers and his eventual control of the corporation.
The title can cause confusion because the McDonald brothers, rather than Kroc, created the original restaurant and its operating system. The film presents Kroc as the force behind the company's large-scale expansion while also examining the dispute over who should be considered McDonald's founder. It is a dramatization, so some events and personal conflicts are simplified for storytelling.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026