Hollywood’s latest sweet spot? A deliciously unexpected biopic that’s stirring up quite the buzz as we head into 2025. The story of chocolate titan Milton Hershey is getting the silver screen treatment, and darling, the casting is absolutely divine.
Mark Waters — yes, the genius who gave us Mean Girls and its endless quotable gems — has signed on to direct “Hershey.” The project’s already generating serious heat with Finn Wittrock (fresh off his stellar run in American Horror Story) and Alexandra Daddario (who absolutely owned The White Lotus) stepping into the roles of Milton and Kitty Hershey.
Talk about perfect timing. While audiences are still digesting the wave of brand-origin stories that flooded theaters last year, this one promises something different — a love story wrapped in chocolate and sprinkled with genuine philanthropy. Not your typical corporate puff piece, thank heavens.
Meanwhile, across town (well, across the country, really), Film at Lincoln Center just dropped their own bombshell. Daniel Battsek — the mastermind who’s been absolutely crushing it at Film4 with gems like “The Zone of Interest” and “Poor Things” — is taking the helm as president. His appointment feels particularly significant as the institution navigates the ever-shifting landscape of contemporary cinema.
The Hershey project kicks off this May in Pennsylvania (where else would you film it?), and Waters seems genuinely moved by the material. “Unlike a lot of other wealthy men of his time,” he noted during last week’s press junket, “he shared his success with the working people and community around him.” There’s something rather refreshing about that sentiment, especially in our current climate of billionaire space races and crypto drama.
What’s particularly fascinating about the Hershey story is how it transcends the typical rags-to-riches narrative. The couple’s creation of the Hershey Industrial School in 1909 — providing free education and housing to underprivileged children — wasn’t just some PR stunt. They built an entire community: theaters, recreation centers, public transportation. It was a chocolate-funded utopia before anyone even knew what corporate social responsibility meant.
The convergence of these announcements — Battsek’s appointment and the Hershey project — feels oddly symbolic. Here’s the industry, simultaneously embracing its artistic roots through Film at Lincoln Center while exploring the surprisingly complex legacy of an American icon. It’s that perpetual dance between commerce and art, isn’t it? Between entertainment and enlightenment?
Perhaps that’s the real story here. While Battsek prepares to shepherd one of cinema’s most prestigious institutions through whatever curves 2025 throws our way, Waters and his cast are cooking up what could be — fingers crossed — a genuinely touching testament to American philanthropy and romance.
Now wouldn’t that be something sweet to savor?
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