By Matthew Swigonski
| Published
From King of the Hill to Office Space, Mike Judge is an expert at creating iconic comedies that find the most mundane moments in the average person’s life and turning them into compelling storylines with hilarious punchlines. With Idiocracy, Judge once again explored the trials and tribulations of an average Joe and made the greatest sci-fi comedy of the 2000s. Despite the high potential of Idiocracy to become a box office sleeper-hit, 20th Century Fox decided to squash the film before it even had a chance, and the reasons behind its decision might… not actually surprise you: corporate America wanted the film to fail.
Who Is Mike Judge?
In 1993, Judge scored his first big break with the release of Beavis and Butt-Head, an animated show about two teenage boys who aren’t exactly the cream of the crop, but for some reason, they always seem to find themselves in the middle of trouble.
While the show never quite aired anything too risqué, it became something of a lightning rod for controversy, especially from watchdog groups, giving Beavis and Butt-Head its counterculture reputation and launching the career of Judge. About 10 years after the release of Beavis and Butt-Head, Judge once again had his eye on a project that laughed in the face of pop culture and aimed to critique how idiotic people had become and the future that we could possibly look forward to.
Idiocracy follows the story of Joe (Luke Wilson) and Rita (Maya Rudolph), two average people who take part in an experimental military project to freeze them for an extended amount of time. However, after the pair enter their hibernation chambers, the project’s funding is scrapped, and they are left on their own until they awaken 500 years later in a world that is drastically different than the one they remember, filled with anti-intellectual people who struggle to understand even the most basic of concepts. With a smart script, Judge at the helm, and a major film studio backing it, Idiocracy seemed primed to make an impressive theatrical run; there was just one major problem.
The Studio Refused To Market Idiocracy
In March 2005, Idiocracy was screened for test audiences, and the reactions were so poor that 20th Century Fox ordered a wave of reshoots that would push back the film’s release date indefinitely. By April 2006, Judge and the team at Fox felt comfortable enough with the film to announce a September 2006 release. But by the time September rolled around, Idiocracy was given the cold shoulder from the marketing department, not receiving a single movie trailer or television ad before being given a limited release to just 130 movie theaters across the country.
Never Given A Fighting Chance In Theaters
Despite not being screened for critics ahead of its release, Idiocracy saw mostly positive reviews, resulting in a critic score of 71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. But those positive reviews had little effect on Idiocracy, which ended its theatrical run grossing just under $500,000 at the global box office. The film’s limited release and poor box office performance puzzled critics, who pondered if Idiocracy may have laughed in the face of pop culture a little too much.
Corporate America Fought Against Idiocracy
Throughout much of the film, corporate America is framed as the main antagonist and the primary reason for the anti-intellectual culture that affected the country. President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho, played by Terry Crews, is a former pro wrestler and porn star who delivers over-the-top and idiotic speeches while he addresses the nation, all while equipped with rifles.
In a 2018 interview with GQ, Crews acknowledged that real-life advertisers poured money into the movie thinking that they would receive a positive portrayal but were shocked when they realized that Idiocracy criticized them and blamed the companies for dumbing down America, causing Fox to reel the film in.
In a more diplomatic approach, Judge pointed to the film’s poor test screenings as the reason Idiocracy never got a full release, also revealing that Fox believed that the movie would eventually become a cult classic with audiences, which has proven to be pretty on the nose. 20 years following its release, Idiocracy is often looked at for correctly predicting how politics would eventually become the media circus that it has started to become. Is anybody in the mood for a demolition derby?
