The Founder Page #5

tell Dick I want to throw a grand

re-opening. A gala premiere to put

Louis B. Mayer to shame.

EXT. GRAND RE-OPENING - EVENING (FLASHBACK)

The fast-food equivalent of a Hollywood-style premiere.

MAC MCDONALD (V.O.)

We rent a bunch of spotlights, the

same ones we used to truck around

to premieres in the Columbia days.

I get sparklers, a juggler for the

kiddies--it’s an event. People show

up in droves. And then...

DICK MCDONALD (V.O.)

The flies.

--An ominous cloud gathers over the restaurant. A SWARM OF

INSECTS. They swoop down in unison, as if in attack mode.

DICK MCDONALD (V.O.)

They must’ve been drawn by all the

lights.

MAC MCDONALD (V.O.)

Millions of ‘em. Looked like

something out of Exodus.

--Customers running, screaming. Swatting.

25.

DICK MCDONALD (V.O.)

The Pharaoh would’ve released the

Israelites.

BACK TO PRESENT-

MAC MCDONALD:

It’s a total disaster. Towel time.

(BEAT)

The next morning, Dick and I meet

up to discuss going back to the old

format. As we’re talking, there’s a

knock at the service window. Dick

goes over, sees a little boy

standing there. He wants a bag of

burgers.

INT. MCDONALD’S - DAY (FLASHBACK)

Dick at the service window, looking at a YOUNG KID. His nose

barely clears the counter.

DICK MCDONALD (V.O.)

I tell him we’re closed.

MAC MCDONALD (V.O.)

But he’s cute, I feel bad for him,

so I fire up the grill, make him a

batch. And as he’s heading off...

--A car pulls into the lot.

MAC MCDONALD (V.O.)

A car pulls up.

--A second car.

MAC MCDONALD (V.O.)

Then another.

--A third car.

MAC MCDONALD (V.O.)

And another. Before you know it,

there’s a line around the block.

--A LINE OF CUSTOMERS stretching into the distance.

MAC MCDONALD (V.O.)

Word has spread.

26.

BACK TO PRESENT-

DICK MCDONALD:

And it’s off to the races.

MAC MCDONALD:

We’re an overnight sensation.

Thirty years in the making.

ON KROC-- absorbing all of this, blown away.

Mac gives Kroc a modest little shrug.

MAC MCDONALD (CONT’D)

So that’s our story.

INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

Kroc lies awake in bed, buzzing, unable to sleep.

EXT. MCDONALD’S - NEXT MORNING

Dick and Mac pull into the McDonald’s lot in Dick’s car.

They’re startled to see-

Kroc, sitting out front. He approaches their car. Before Dick

can fully roll down his window:

RAY KROC:

Franchise.

DICK MCDONALD:

Beg pardon?

RAY KROC:

Franchise, franchise the thing.

It’s too good to just be one

location. There ought to be

McDonald’s everywhere. Coast to

coast, sea to shining sea. And I’m

just the man to help you do it.

I’ve spent the better part of my

life criss-crossing this country. I

know every highway and byway, every

city and every town.

DICK MCDONALD:

Mr. Kroc...

RAY KROC:

Let me just say one thing. One more

thing.

(MORE)

27.

RAY KROC (CONT'D)

I want to confess something to you

boys. I’m not out here in

California on any business meeting.

I’m out here for you. You’re what

brought me out. A few days ago, I

was standing outside a filling

station in St. Louis, Missouri

staring at a U.S. road map, staring

at a long, white, unbroken line

called Route 66. I took my finger-

DICK MCDONALD:

Mr. Kroc-

RAY KROC:

I took my finger, and I traced that

line from where I was standing all

the way out to California, where it

ran smack-dab into this place we

are now. As I stared at that line,

something told me to follow it.

Something told me to get in my car

and see what’s out there at the

other end. And when I laid eyes on

your hamburger stand yesterday, all

those people lined up to purchase

your remarkable product, I knew it

was-

DICK MCDONALD:

We already tried!

INT. MCDONALD’S - BACK OFFICE - SHORT TIME LATER

Kroc and the brothers stand before a U.S. MAP.

DICK MCDONALD:

Five.

ANGLE ON map. Five PUSH PINS are stuck in it, clustered

around California and the Southwest.

DICK MCDONALD (CONT’D)

Three in Southern California, one

in Sacramento and one in Phoenix.

(BEAT)

And that’s all there’ll ever be.

RAY KROC:

Why?

28.

DICK MCDONALD:

Two words:
Quality control. It’s

almost impossible to enforce

standards from afar.

MAC MCDONALD:

Those places were a mess. Filthy

kitchens, inconsistent menus...

DICK MCDONALD:

Sacramento was selling burritos.

MAC MCDONALD:

To watch your precious creation get

mismanaged like that. Your name.

DICK MCDONALD:

Put Mac in the hospital.

Kroc looks at Mac, surprised.

MAC MCDONALD:

Diabetes and extreme stress don’t

mix.

A BEAT as Kroc absorbs this.

RAY KROC:

But if you had somebody in charge

of supervising.

MAC MCDONALD:

We did.

RAY KROC:

What happened?

DICK MCDONALD:

He obviously didn’t do a great job.

RAY KROC:

So replace him. With someone

better.

DICK MCDONALD:

Our energies are better spent

making this place the best it can

possibly be.

MAC MCDONALD:

Better one great restaurant than 50

mediocre ones.

29.

RAY KROC:

Sure, but I still think if you had

the right-

DICK MCDONALD:

Thank you, we’re not interested.

RAY KROC:

Someone as committed to quality as-

DICK MCDONALD:

Thank you.

Kroc backs off. A BEAT of awkward silence.

Kroc’s eye goes to something else on the wall... a BLUEPRINT.

The building has towering arches on each side.

RAY KROC:

What’s that?

DICK MCDONALD:

A blueprint.

RAY KROC:

Those:

Mac follows Kroc’s eyes to the arches.

MAC MCDONALD:

It’s a way to make the place stand

out when you’re driving past.

DICK MCDONALD:

“The Golden Arches” I call ‘em.

Kroc stares at them, fascinated. It’s a crazy, radical (and

kind of brilliant) thing to stick on the sides of a building.

RAY KROC:

Who thought of that?

MAC MCDONALD:

That’s pure Dick magic right there.

Dick’s gaze is still on the arches, clearly proud.

RAY KROC:

Ever do one like that?

DICK MCDONALD:

Just one...

30.

Dick looks at the U.S. map. A lonely push pin in the middle

of Arizona.

DICK MCDONALD (CONT’D)

Phoenix.

EXT. ROUTE 66 - SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA/ARIZONA - DAY

Kroc driving back along Route 66, taking in the scenery.

SERIES OF SHOTS:
Kroc passing through various small towns,

each with a Main Street running through it. On every Main

Street, we see the same two things: a church and courthouse.

Glimpses of various churches and courthouses. Churches topped

with crosses. Courthouses with American flags.

ON KROC-- processing, wheels turning.

EXT. ROUTE 66 - FLAGSTAFF, AZ - NIGHT

Kroc driving through Flagstaff. He passes a road sign: I-17

SOUTH - PHOENIX - NEXT RIGHT

He takes an impulsive detour.

EXT. CENTRAL AVENUE (PHOENIX) - SHORT TIME LATER

Kroc drives down Phoenix’s Central Avenue. He sees the arches

before he sees the restaurant.

Kroc pulls into the empty lot (the restaurant is closed). He

gets out, looks up at the arches. They’re lit up and glowing.

Glorious, magical.

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