KFC founder Colonel Sanders’ life story is getting the big screen treatment. Palmer screenwriter Cheryl Guerriero has adapted the book The Colonel’s Secret: Eleven Herbs and a Spicy Daughter by Margaret Sanders for film. According to Deadline, Guerriero will produce the film, A Finger Lickin’ Good Story: The Life of Colonel Sanders, along with Eric Paquette and his Meridian Pictures. Margaret Sanders’ book was published in 1996 and is a first-hand account of how Harland Sanders built Kentucky Fried Chicken as well as his sometimes complicated relationship with his daughter.
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“I knew Sanders was a real man, but I had no idea how many jobs he had, how many failures, how many challenges, but the biggest surprise was that he was around 65-year-old when he set out to franchise his chicken,” Guerriero said in a statement. “It is an incredible story of perseverance and faith.”
Born in 1890, Colonel Sanders first finalized his Original Recipe of 11 herbs and spices in 1940 and began to franchise his chicken concept in 1952 where the very first franchisee, Pete Harman of South Salt Lake, Utah, coined the name Kentucky Fried Chicken. The franchise eventually became highly successful with KFC becoming one of the first fast food chains to expand internationally in the mid-1960s. Sanders sold the corporation in 1964 at the age of 73 but remained the company’s symbol and even appeared in commercials, ads, and other appearances for the brand. His image continues to be widely used by the brand in advertising while Sanders himself has also become a prominent figure in American cultural history. Sanders died in 1980 at the age of 90 and, at the time of his death, there were an estimated 6000 KFC locations in 48 countries worldwide. KFC at present has around 18.875 locations in 118 countries and territories. China is the brand’s largest market with 4,563 locations.
“I’m just so honored and trilled that Margaret and Colonel Sanders’ Family have entrusted me to bring this story to the screen,” Guerriero said. “To anyone who’s ever wanted to quit or been fired or felt they were too old to pursue a dream, or for anyone who has a complicated relationship with a family member I feel strongly this is a story that will not only inspire and resonate, but it will entertain.”
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