Hooters is getting a movie based on its “unlikely beginnings” from its original founders

Hooters is bringing the story behind its famous orange shorts and chicken wings to the big screen with a movie based on the restaurant chain’s founding.

Hooters: The Movie will tell the story of how the chain went from a single Florida restaurant in 1983 to hundreds of locations, following the people behind its creation and the events that helped turn it into a nationally recognized brand.

The project comes as Hooters undergoes changes of its own. After reacquiring the brand’s intellectual property in 2025, its original owners have been working to return the chain to what they describe as its roots as a neighborhood restaurant.

Hooters movie will tell the story behind restaurant’s founding

According to a press release, Hooters: The Movie is based on real events surrounding the chain’s beginnings and follows two friends from Iowa named Ted and Lenny.

The story begins when Ted sees a woman named Diane in a spring break commercial and convinces Lenny to travel to Clearwater Beach, Florida, to find her. Diane would eventually become the first Hooters Girl.

From there, the pair “accidentally launch a national restaurant empire,” before what they have built becomes threatened by the federal government.

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Director Jon Rosenbaum described the project as a combination of a “hilarious buddy comedy” and “inspiring biopic,” adding that the story is “mostly true.”

The movie is being independently produced by some of Hooters’ original founders, with cofounder Ed Droste also serving as a producer and co-writer.

“I think people are going to enjoy watching how we were really just some guys who didn’t know what we were doing, but had a great time doing it,” Droste said. “And of course, our world-famous Hooters Girls are the real stars.”

Production is scheduled to begin in November 2026, with filming set to take place primarily in Florida. Casting details and a release date have not yet been announced.