WASHINGTON: The viral story of an Arizona grandma who sent an accidental Thanksgiving dinner invite to a random teen is getting the Hollywood treatment.
Netflix has confirmed to NBC News that it is developing a feature film based on the story of Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench, called “The Thanksgiving Text.”
Hinton, the stranger who received the text five years ago, first shared the news in a tweet on Thursday. “I am very excited to announce our new partnership with Netflix,” Hinton tweeted. “We thank every single one of you for your love and support in our journey the last 6 years. We can’t wait to tell our story on the big screen!” he added.
I am very excited to announce our new partnership with Netflix. We thank every single one of you for your love and support in our journey the last 6 years. We can’t wait to tell our story on the big screen! ???????? pic.twitter.com/0heCmEWMDM
— Jamal Hinton (@Jamalhinton12) December 2, 2021
In 2016, Dench, a grandmother from Arizona, accidentally sent a text to Hinton, a high school senior, and invited him over for Thanksgiving dinner.
Hinton, who instantly knew the accidental text couldn’t be from his own grandma, jokingly replied: “You not my grandma. Can I still get a plate tho?” Dench replied: “Of course you can. That’s what grandmas do … feed everyone.”
It culminated in a Thanksgiving meal in 2016, a tradition that’s stuck – the two recently enjoyed their sixth Thanksgiving dinner together. The duo are now famous for taking pictures of their annual dinners and posting them online, a tradition Twitter users look forward to every year.
The images amass thousands of likes and retweets, and have grown their individual followers, with Hinton having 132.6K followers and Dench gaining 26.9K followers.
Over the years, the Thanksgiving table has changed, with Hinton’s partner also joining in the celebrations. Last year, news of their annual Thanksgiving dinner was even more poignant than usual, after Dench’s husband, Lonnie, died of Covid-19 complications in April.
Still, the bond between Hinton and Dench remains stronger than ever. “I can’t even explain how much joy I had, having good food with my favorite company,” Dench told CNN. “We laughed, we had a great time, we reminisced about the past. It was so good for all of us,” she added.
