If You Enjoyed Futurama, There’s One Movie You Definitely Need to Watch Next.
Futurama has been one of the smartest and funniest shows on television for so long that it’s been cancelled and revived several times. And it’s easy to see why: every episode is packed with jokes, from the incredibly stupid to those based on science that only about four people in the world understand (and all of them, apparently, work on the Futurama writing staff). Its twisted vision of the future of the universe is always a delightfully wacky adventure, and if you’re looking for a little of that vibe in your life (and you’ve already watched all the hilarious shows in this category ), you should definitely watch Idiocracy immediately.
Why You Should Watch Idiocracy After Futurama
Idiocracy and Futurama share a fundamental premise: a man of average intelligence is frozen, awakens in the distant future, and has an adventure. In Futurama, Philip J. Fry (Billy West) fits perfectly into the absurd sci-fi universe he finds himself in; but in Idiocracy, soldier Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson) awakens from hibernation five centuries later to discover that humanity has degenerated so much that he is now the smartest man on Earth, by a wide margin. And if you think Futurama plays with this premise in a very specific way, you’re right—in Season 3, Episode 7, “The Day the Earth Grew Stupid,” floating alien brains use an energy beam to make humanity stupid—but the beam doesn’t work on Fry because—wait for it—he’s his own grandfather and therefore lacks the all-important “delta wave” in his brain, which briefly makes him the smartest person on the planet.
Idiocracy is more of a deliberate satire than Futurama , using its core premise to mock contemporary issues and behaviors, but it shares many of the same themes. Like the show, Idiocracy is full of hilarious jokes about consumerism and how we are manipulated by advertising and marketing ploys, and the film is populated with ridiculous characters that fans of the show will come to know and love—like Dwayne Elizondo “Mountain Dew” Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews), the incredibly stupid and cruel President of the United States (whose hair is a character in the film).
As is often the case with Fry, Joe finds himself saving the day, despite being pretty ordinary in most ways. Frustrated by the stupidity surrounding him (this is a future America where capital punishment involves monster truck racing, the Supreme Court has been renamed the Supreme Court, and an energy drink called Brawndo is used for everything from medicine to crop irrigation), Joe perseveres, doing his best, and (again, like Fry) ultimately triumphs.
For Futurama fans, there’s no better moviegoing option. Rent Idiocracy on Prime Video .
A few more films worth watching for Futurama fans
Want to watch something else? The obvious choice is the Futurama feature films that were released in theaters: Bender’s Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender’s Game (2008), and Into the Wild Green Away (2009). You can find them on Hulu as part of the Futurama collection , but the films have been edited into episodes. You can also buy each film individually on Prime Video .
But if you’ve already seen the Futurama movies (and you probably have), here are some other movies that aren’t Futurama but offer a similarly crazy sci-fi experience.
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
As a sci-fi series, Futurama has explored time travel several times, making Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure the perfect film for fans. In San Dimas, California, in 1989, Bill Preston (Alex Winter) and Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves) are lazy high school seniors facing failure in their history exam, which would have dire consequences for humanity’s otherwise utopian future. A man named Rufus (George Carlin) travels back in time to help them by giving them access to a time machine, and hilarious adventures begin. Watch Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure on Tubi or rent it on Prime Video .
Spaceballs (1987)
The Futurama writers love movie parodies—they’ve already made parodies of Willy Wonka , Armageddon , Animal House , and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest , to name a few. So, one of the best parodies of one of our favorite sci-fi franchises is the perfect follow-up. It’s the work of Mel Brooks, so while this parody of all things Star Wars (the original trilogy only) might seem a bit childish, it remains a wicked satire of the founding sci-fi universe. Plus, the long-awaited sequel is coming in 2027, so it’s a refresher. Watch Spaceballs on Fubo or rent it on Prime Video .
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
In many ways , The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy crawled so Futurama could walk. While this film, based on Douglas Adams’s original book, isn’t as pop-culture-focused as Futurama , it shares the same spirit of dizzying sci-fi madness: from poetry as a torture device to the Infinite Improbability Engine that warps and distorts reality every time it’s used. There are strange aliens, clever observations about the nature of our existence, and meditations on the fundamental importance of towels. Rent The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on Prime Video .
WALL-E (2008)
Futurama is a funny but also very kind show: Philip J. Fry may not be the smartest guy, but he means well, and the Planet Express crew almost always does the right thing. WALL-E has the same spirit, but also hilariously satirizes modern life, showing us both a charming, lonely robot stranded on an ecologically ruined Earth and a vision of a future humanity full of flesh, laziness, and a little stupidity if we don’t change our ways. Watch WALL-E on Disney+ or rent it on Prime Video .
Megamind (2010)
If you enjoy the fast-paced wit of Futurama and the absurdity of completely impractical technology, you’ll love Megamind . This superhero parody follows two alien babies who, Superman-style, are sent to Earth after their worlds are destroyed. One becomes the arch-villain Megamind (Will Ferrell), the other the hero Metro Man (Brad Pitt), and they battle each other until Megamind finally overtakes his rival, killing Metro Man and robbing him of any meaning in life. Using tropes like dehydration weapons and realistic holographic disguises, Megamind plays with sci-fi tropes in a way that Futurama fans will love. Watch Megamind on Peacock or rent it on Prime Video .