Weinstein picks up ‘The Founder,’ McDonald’s film with Michael Keaton

Want fries with that? The Weinstein Co. has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “The Founder,” an upcoming drama starring Michael Keaton as McDonald’s mogul Ray Kroc, the studio announced Monday with FilmNation Entertainment.

Weinstein is also co-financing the picture with FilmNation, the independent production and international sales company.

Directed by John Lee Hancock (“Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Blind Side”) from a script by Robert Siegel (“The Wrestler”), “The Founder” is to tell the story of how Kroc, a salesman from Illinois, met burger-slinging brothers Mac and Dick McDonald in 1950s Southern California and parlayed their company into a billion-dollar empire.

Shooting starts in Atlanta in May.

Don’t expect a happy meal of a movie, though: According to the announcement, Siegel’s script is similar in tone to “The Social Network” and “There Will Be Blood.”

For Keaton, who is coming off a major career rejuvenation with his Oscar-nominated turn as a has-been superhero actor in “Birdman,” “The Founder” should offer another meaty role.

He’ll next be seen on the big screen opposite Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo in “Spotlight.” Director and co-writer Thomas McCarthy is in post-production on the fact-based drama about the Boston Globe’s yearlong investigation into the Catholic Church’s coverup of pedophile allegations against its priests in Massachusetts.

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