The release date for The Founder has been pushed from August 5th to a limited run on December 16th to qualify for an Oscar nomination. A wide release is set for January 20, 2017. The Weinstein Company made the power move to have the film qualify for Academy consideration.
The Founder stars Michael Keaton (Batman, Birdman) as McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, who turned McDonald’s drive-through business into a franchise, all while pushing out original owners, Mac and Dick McDonald, out of the business. The film also features a wide array of stars in Laura Dern, Linda Cardellini, Patrick Wilson, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch and B.J. Novak.
Test audiences have loved the film thus far, along with Keaton. If The Founder qualifies for an Oscar, it would give Keaton his third Oscar campaign in three years: the last two were for Birdman and Spotlight.
The change date also helps the film not compete with David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.
