Idiocracy

Idiocracy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike Judge
Screenplay by	Etan Cohen Mike Judge
Story by	Mike Judge
Produced by	Elysa Koplovitz Mike Judge
Starring	Luke Wilson Maya Rudolph Dax Shepard Terry Crews
Cinematography	Tim Suhrstedt
Edited by	David Rennie
Music by	Theodore Shapiro
Production company	Ternion
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	September 1, 2006 (2006-09-01)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2.4 million
Box office	$495,303

Idiocracy is a 2006 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge from a screenplay written by Judge and Etan Cohen. The plot follows United States Army librarian Joe Bauers and prostitute Rita, who undergo a government hibernation experiment. Joe and Rita awake five hundred years later in a dystopian anti-intellectual society. The cast includes Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, David Herman, Justin Long, Andrew Wilson, and Brad Jordan.

The concept of Idiocracy dates back to a concept Judge envisioned in 1996. Judge finished the script for 3001 in 2001, rewriting the film a year later. Filming took place throughout 2004 at Austin Studios and other cities in Texas. Idiocracy serves as a social satire that touches on issues including anti-intellectualism, commercialism, consumerism, dysgenics, voluntary childlessness, and overpopulation. 20th Century Fox was hesitant to promote the film, refusing to grant it a wide release and did not screen the film for critics. The decision not to market Idiocracy was seen as unexpected, following the success of Office Space (1999), and led to speculation. According to Crews, the film's satirical depiction of corporations made the film financially unviable, while Judge attributed 20th Century Fox's decision to negative test screenings; Judge stated that 20th Century Fox believed that the film would develop a cult following through its DVD release, similar to Office Space.

The film was released in the United States on September 1, 2006. It was not screened for critics, and the distributor, 20th Century Fox, was accused of abandoning it. Despite its lack of a major theatrical release, which resulted in a mere $495,000 gross at the box office, the film received positive reviews from critics and has since become a cult film.^[1]