Netflix Turns Viral Thanksgiving Text Mishap Into a Full-Length Movie

December 20, 2021, USA A grandma’s mistaken text that sparked an unlikely friendship between strangers and a new holiday tradition is being turned into a feature film, Netflix announced.

 

Based on real-life events that unfolded during Thanksgiving 2016, “The Thanksgiving Text” retells the story of a unique friendship that started from one honest mistake when, five years ago, Arizona local Wanda Dench accidentally texted a Thanksgiving invitation to a stranger.

 

Trying to update her grandson about their Thanksgiving plans, Dench mistakenly sent the message to high school senior Jamal Hinton. While he quickly figured out that she wasn’t his grandma and the conversation was supposed to have ended there, he jokingly asked if he could still get a plate, to which Dench graciously replied, “Of course you can. That’s what grandma’s do… Feed everyone.”

 

Hinton shared the touching conversation in a series of screenshots on Twitter, which quickly became an internet sensation that thousands of fans carefully watched. He spent Thanksgiving with Dench’s family every year since, and their annual tradition grew to include more members, as the invitation soon extended to Hinton’s girlfriend and his family.

 

Sadly, Dench’s husband Lonnie died in 2020 from COVID-19. Last year, they shared a smaller Thanksgiving meal to remember him by.

 

The duo, whose following blew after the viral tweet, kept their fans posted on their Thanksgiving reunions by sharing selfies and updates about their growing friendship. To date, Hinton’s and Dench’s follower count grew to more than 132,000 and 27,000, respectively.

 

Hinton and Dench shared their excitement over the Netflix partnership and hoped to inspire people to make surprising connections in a joint statement.

 

The Thanksgiving Text is the latest film to join the growing number of onscreen adaptations of viral content. One such notable film is the 2020 black comedy Zola, roughly based on the viral 2015 tweet by Aziah “Zola” King. The 148-tweet thread, known to fans as #TheStory, recounted how Detroit waitress (and sometimes stripper) Zola met fellow stripper Jessica Rae Swiatkowski and joined her on a Florida road trip only to create a chain of unfortunate events that involved sex trafficking and murder.

 

According to the streaming giant, The Thanksgiving Text will be written by Abdul Williams, known for his works on other biopics such as The New Edition Story and The Bobby Brown Story. However, Netflix hasn’t announced who the director and the cast members will be.

 

As one of the pioneers in the streaming industry, Netflix not only leads with the numbers of content in its catalog, but it also has the edge when it comes to content quality. The platform is filled with many heartwarming stories such as The Thanksgiving Text that are a great watch for families, especially around the holiday seasons. If you’re looking for a list of Netflix movies to warm up your heart this Christmas season, visit https://www.netflixmoviesearch.com/movies.

 

Source:

NetflixMovieSearch.com