There's a new Hooters movie out today, and I promise it's not the one you were expecting. It's a documentary, and it goes to some very dark places.

Per Yahoo's report, the film digs into true-crime territory, covering the murders of women who worked at the restaurant chain over the years. So if you clicked expecting wings and workplace comedy, this is the opposite of that. It's the grim chapter of the Hooters story, told through the cases of real victims, and it sits in that growing lane of brand-adjacent true crime where a familiar logo pulls you in and the content knocks you sideways.

I haven't watched it yet, so this isn't a review, just a heads-up about what you're actually pressing play on. Documentaries like this live or die on how respectfully they treat the victims, and that's what I'll be watching for when I sit down with it this week.

The other reason this movie is getting attention is the name everyone keeps attaching to Hooters in 2026: Sydney Sweeney. For months there's been chatter about a scripted Hooters project with her involved, and fans are still waiting on an official casting announcement. Nothing confirmed. As of today the only Hooters movie that actually exists is the documentary, so temper your expectations.

But the irony is a little uncomfortable, right? A franchise people associate with a punchline, and the first movie out the door is about women who were killed. If the doc is handled well it could reframe how a lot of us think about those orange shorts entirely. If it's handled badly, it's exploitation with a recognizable logo on it. No in-between.

I'll watch it and report back, same as I do with everything. And if the Sweeney news ever turns real, you'll hear it here the second it's confirmed, not the second a rumor starts breathing on its own.