How Meme Culture is Helping Bring Back Movie Theaters

Move over Marvel because there’s a new top dog in town. Backed by rampant meme culture and the reputation of the Despicable Me franchise(which has already grossed $8.65B), Minions: Rise of Gru has cemented itself as the go-to movie in theaters. Some have dubbed this trend as the “Gentleminions”, but it largely didn’t need to be named because you certainly know it when you see it. Whether it be a group of 15 heading to the cinemas in full wedding attire, or a group of equally meme-crazed kids sneaking bananas inside, the movie theaters are profiting in a major way. 

It’s sometimes even accompanied by a pre-game meal at IHOP.

It would be remiss of me to say Top Gun: Maverick has succeeded solely due to meme culture. Grossing $1 Billion at the box office is nothing to scoff at; in fact, it has quickly become one of the highest-earning non-Marvel films. But it would be even more foolish of me to undermine the power of the internet. Men worldwide hit the theaters to see their Mustache-Messiahs on the big screen. The buzz that viral trends like this have created an impact that no one even realizes, similar to how advertising subconsciously influences us. This trend certainly isn’t the only reason Top Gun has been so successful, but it certainly didn’t hurt. 

We’ve arrived at the crème de la crème of the 2022 theater releases.

Morbius makes the Minions and Top Gun memes look like child’s play. Never have I seen a meme so rampant that it spurs movie theaters to set up extra screenings. I know what you’re thinking, no one attended those screenings, and that was the whole point. You may be right, but all exposure is good exposure. Movie theaters were the talk of the town, not streaming; people were looking at box office numbers, not streaming smash hits, and for that month of Morbius memes, no one could take their mind off the theaters. Morbius became synonymous with movies, “It’s Morbin’ time” they said, signaling the return of movies (even bad ones) to the forefront of popular culture.