Flamin' Hot Cheetos have been a cult hit since they launched in the 90s, but in the last few years, Instagram and some very famous celeb fans brought their popularity to a whole new level. There was Katy Perry's epic 2014 Halloween costume, Burger King's Flamin' Hot Mac and Cheetos ... even Flamin' Hot ice cream exists. This chip is no doubt beloved. Now, the story of how it came to be is coming to movie theaters.
Variety recently announced that Fox Searchlight is producing Flamin' Hot, a The Founder-style movie about the man who brought the fiery red chips into existence. The underdog story seems made for the big screen — Richard Montañez went from a janitor at Rancho Cucamonga's Frito-Lay plant to Executive Vice President at PepsiCo after a fluke incident in the plant.
The story goes like this: A batch of Cheetos accidentally came out without cheese, so Montañez decided to take them home. He topped them with ingredients typically found on elote, a popular Mexican street food, and started sharing his creation.
His family and co-workers loved it so much that Montañez decided to reach out to the president of the company, who granted him a meeting. Armed with a $3 tie and a Flamin' Hot Cheetos bag he designed himself, Montañez pitched the product, execs loved it, and the rest is history.
Details on the project are scarce, but Variety reported it will be produced by DeVon Franklin (who is also working on a project with This Is Us star Chrissy Metz!) and written by Lewis Colick.
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