The Peculiar Rise of the Vanity Biopic

Earlier this year, Searchlight Pictures (now owned by Disney) released a film called Flamin’ Hot, purporting to depict the invention of the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto and related line of products. It was directed by Eva Longoria and based on the memoir of the guy who said he invented them. Longoria and the studio did this knowing full well that Flamin’ Hot’s subject, Richard Montañez, hadn’t actually invented the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto—a detail exposed in a Los Angeles Times report all the way back in May 2021, when the film was just entering production.