Flamin' Hot Cheetos — the spicy red version of the classic cheese-flavored snack — are something of a cultural phenomenon. A group of north Minneapolis children rapping about them has racked up more than 16 million views on YouTube. Pop star Katy Perry dressed as a Flamin' Hot for Halloween.
Although several schools have banned them, saying they're unhealthy, the snacks enjoy the kind of high profile that research chefs and food scientists spend their careers chasing.
But Flamin' Hot Cheetos weren't made by any experts. They were invented by a janitor, the son of a Mexican immigrant who dropped out of school because he struggled with English.
His name is Richard Montañez, and Fox Searchlight Pictures is making a movie about his life.
Lewis Colick, who wrote "Charlie St. Cloud" and "October Sky," will write the first draft of the screenplay, based on the initial pitch from Montañez and producer DeVon Franklin, Variety reported. The biopic, titled "Flamin' Hot," will follow Montañez's real-life rags-to-riches tale.
He grew up on a farm migrant labor camp in Guasti, Calif, a tiny town centered on winemaking. As a child, Montañez — one of 11 siblings — picked grapes at the vineyards.
In his memoir, "A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie," he described arriving at his white elementary school. His bus was green, while the white children rode a yellow bus. Speaking only Spanish, he couldn't understand anyone.
He dropped out of school while still in grade school and worked various low-paying jobs, from slaughtering chickens to gardening.
