Stranger Things Star’s New Hit Movie Resurrects A Forgotten Trend

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Just when it seemed like comedies about marijuana use were losing popularity, a new hit show on Hulu, starring a cast member from Stranger Things, proves there’s still an audience for them. While many consider Cheech and Chong’s 1978 film Up In Smoke to be the first of its kind, these types of movies actually started appearing in the 1960s. Films like the 1968 Peter Sellers comedy I Love You, Alice B. Toklas and Ralph Bakshi’s animated Fritz the Cat came before Cheech and Chong, though the duo certainly made the genre more widely known.

For years, movies about marijuana use have gone through periods of popularity and decline, almost disappearing recently. But the 2026 Hulu comedy Pizza Movie, featuring Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things and Sean Giambrone from The Goldbergs, proved the genre still has a dedicated audience. Created by the popular YouTube comedy duo BriTANicK, the film centers on two hapless college roommates who experience increasingly wild hallucinations after accidentally taking drugs. Their desperate search for pizza to cure their condition drives the film’s lighthearted and funny plot.

Pizza Movie’s Critical and Streaming Success Proves Stoner Movies Are Back

Critics generally liked Pizza Movie, giving it a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But it wasn’t just critics – the comedy also ranked among the top 10 most-watched films on Hulu during its opening weekend, showing it resonated with audiences too. This is especially interesting because comedies of this type haven’t been consistently popular in theaters lately.

Comedies like Scary Movie, Friday, Dude, Where’s My Car, Idle Hands, Half Baked, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Van Wilder, How High, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back made stoner comedies incredibly popular in the early 2000s. But it was the films starring Seth Rogen—Knocked Up and Pineapple Express—that really brought the genre into the mainstream and achieved blockbuster success. Soon after, other big hits like Ted, Paul, and This Is The End continued the trend.

Stoner Comedies Fell Off In The 2010s

Despite the growing popularity of stoner comedies, several expensive films like Your Highness (2011), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and The Beach Bum (2019) failed to succeed. While increased cannabis legalization and wider acceptance may have contributed to the genre’s decline, the rise of streaming services also meant fewer mid-budget comedies – such as Super Troopers, Grandma’s Boy, and Without a Paddle – were shown in movie theaters.

As a lifelong movie fan, I’m really excited to see stoner comedies making a comeback! It feels like things are finally shifting, and the surprising success of Pizza Movie might be the spark we needed. Plus, with a new Scary Movie on the way, talk of an Idle Hands remake, and even a Snoop Dogg biopic from Craig Brewster in the works, it’s clear this genre is back in a big way. I’m hoping the critical love Pizza Movie is getting on Hulu will really help bring this fun subgenre back to the forefront over the next few months and years – it’s about time!

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2026-04-08 21:40