Jerry Seinfeld Is Celebrating Major News For His Pop-Tarts Movie
Seinfeld's Pop-Tarts movie is getting some extra filling!
This article is more than 2 years old
Jerry Seinfeld is making a movie about Pop-Tarts — no, we’re not lying, Jerry Seinfeld is absolutely making a movie about Pop-Tarts. And if you’re still not convinced we’re not lying about that, then no amount of reputable sources is going to make you believe the next part. Not only is Seinfeld making a movie about breakfast food, but Netflix is getting a $14.2 million tax credit for Unfrosted. That’s name of the movie. The one about Pop-Tarts.
Variety reported on Monday that the $14.2 million tax credit for Jerry Seinfeld’s Unfrosted is a little under a quarter of the total tax credit windfall Netflix will enjoy — $60.3 million — from the state of California for shooting four upcoming films there. The other movies are the Jennifer Garner comedy Family Leave, the Jennifer Lopez led sci-fi thriller Atlas, and the long unexpected and unwanted Beverly Hills Cop 4. Variety says this was the largest amount of tax credits awarded to any studio, with Disney trailing far behind in second place at $27.2 million.
Jerry Seinfeld — who is writing, directing, and producing the Pop-Tarts movie — was apparently ecstatic over the news, citing his creative ties to Los Angeles. “We are so happy to get the California tax credit which enables us to make our whole movie there,” Seinfeld said. “Having made all of the Seinfeld series in L.A., I very much wanted to come back and shoot there again. On behalf of everyone working on the movie, we really appreciate the great welcome.”
Unfrosted was first announced last June, when Jerry Seinfeld said it was the isolation and depression of the Covid-19 pandemic that inspired him to make the most ridiculous movie he could think of. “Stuck at home watching endless sad faces on TV, I thought this would be a good time to make something based on pure silliness,” Seinfeld said. “So we took my Pop-Tart stand-up bit from my last Netflix special and exploded it into a giant, crazy comedy movie.” The comic was referring to his 2020 special Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill, and in particular to a bit about how revolutionary the Pop-Tart seemed compared to the boring breakfast fare that existed before its introduction. Seinfeld’s thoughtful Pop-Tart musings don’t begin in that special however. While he’d clearly refined the material, you can find videos of Seinfeld riffing on Pop-Tarts from as early as 2o10. For example, there’s the clip below from the Late Show with David Letterman.
Jerry Seinfeld isn’t the only celebrity making a movie about the invention of certain kinds of popular food. Eva Longoria of Desperate Housewives fame is directing Flamin’ Hot — based on the real life story of Richard Montañez, the self-professed creator of the Flamin’ Hot brand of Cheetos. According to Frito-Lay, however, Flamin’ Hot may wind up being just as silly as Seinfeld’s Unfrosted, just not on purpose. The corporation who owns Cheetos says that Montañez’s claims that he came up with the Flamin’ Hot flavor simply aren’t true and that, in fact, the flavor was created by a team of employees working out of Plano, Texas, and that the name and brand were developed by freshman employee Lynne Greenfeld.
