The first official trailer for the rags-to-riches dramedy Flamin’ Hot hit online Wednesday morning (May 10), and it looks like a crowd-pleasing winner from director Eva Longoria.
The film tells the story of Richard Montañez, a former Frito Lay janitor-turned-executive who has long claimed to be the inventor of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
In the trailer, Richard (Jesse Garcia), who narrates the film, introduces himself as the “mero mero” (slang for boss). “I’m the guy who helped bring the world the most popular snack it’s ever seen!” he says.
Inspiration for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos comes to Richard from the snacks he grew up eating like corn on the cob seasoned with chili powder and seasonings and fruit cups covered in chamoy.
“We wanna know that we matter to you,” Richard tells Frito Lay executives when pitching them the idea at a meeting. “If we knew that there was a product out there for us, we’d say, ‘Take all our money, cabrones!’”
In May 2021, the L.A. Times published an investigative piece that said Montañez’s claim about inventing Flamin’ Hot Cheetos was false. The following month, Longoria told Remezcla that she was “absolutely” confident in making this film even after the Times article was published.
“[Richard’s] story has always been the story we wanted to tell,” she said. “We’ve never faltered or stepped away from it. I can’t wait for people to watch it. It’s inspirational [and] aspirational and nobody can take that away from Richard.”
Earlier this year, Longoria told People that Montañez is “more known as the godfather of Hispanic marketing than the creator of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.”
Flamin’ Hot will premiere on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ overseas on June 9, 2023.
