Lifetime to release romantic film about KFC's Colonel Sanders

Actor Mario Lopez will play KFC’s longtime mascot, Colonel Sanders, in a Lifetime channel holiday romance, the companies said on Monday, as marketing and entertainment converge to boost sales of the chain’s fried chicken.

A Recipe for Seduction tells the story of a young chef with a secret fried chicken recipe who disrupts a woman’s plan to marry off her heiress daughter to a handpicked suitor.

Lopez, known for his role in the TV series Saved by the Bell and as a host of entertainment news show Extra, is featured in the film poster clad in Sanders’ trademark white shirt, black tie, glasses, and goatee and clutching a young woman in a red dress.

KFC, a unit of Yum! Brands Inc urged viewers to curl up with a bucket of chicken to watch the 15-minute film, which will debut on the Lifetime cable network on Dec. 13.