Cheetos is getting a movie—and somehow it won’t even feature a grotesque new CGI iteration of Chester Cheetah.
Deadline reports that Eva Longoria has beat out several competing directors to head up Fox Searchlight’s film about Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Or, rather, about the guy who gave us this legendary snack recounted in song after song.
As detailed in this article, Flamin’ Hots were the idea of Richard Montañez, a 26-year-old, first-generation Mexican immigrant with a fourth-grade education. While working as a janitor at Frito-Lay, he noticed that the company’s snacks weren’t reaching out to the spicier palates of Latinx communities. So, he took some un-powdered Cheetos from the line, formulated a chili powder seasoning blend with his wife, and had the gumption to reach out to the CEO about his re-invention. And now Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are all anyone buys unless they’re chumps.
It’s as inspiring a rags-to-riches tale as any—and at least as deserving of a biopic as that Greg Kinnear movie about the inventor of intermittent windshield wipers. We eagerly await the inevitable twin film about the creator of Takis.
