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‘Stranger Things’ Icon’s 92-Minute Hulu Original Becomes a Late-Night Sleeper Hit

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With Stranger Things having wrapped up several months ago, its cast members have moved on to other projects. The actors had become synonymous with the characters they had played since they were children, and with many of them now in their early twenties, their roles are reflecting this change. Gaten Matarazzo brought to life the loveable and hilarious Dustin Henderson for the show’s entire run, but now he’s on to something a bit different. The actor stars in the Hulu comedy Pizza Movie as Jack, a college student who embarks on a mission with his friend while on a drug-induced trip. He brings those Dustin comedy chops to the stoner movie that has become a streaming favorite.

Streaming data from FlixPatrol shows that Pizza Movie is currently the most popular movie on Hulu. The comedy has received mixed reviews from critics, with a 76% rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and this streaming performance hints at popularity with the viewers. Pizza Movie has been out for five days, so it’s still unclear how long it can sustain this hype, given that Jason Statham‘s fan favorite, The Beekeeper, is also now on Hulu and making its way up the charts.

Written and directed by Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher, Pizza Movie is akin to other stoner comedies that preceded it. The GoldbergsSean Giambrone stars alongside Matarazzo as Montgomery, a shy college student who accidentally takes potent drugs that turn a simple mission to retrieve pizza by descending two flights of stairs into a wild adventure. Other cast members include Lulu Wilson (Lizzy), Jack Martin (Blake), Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Ashley), Marcus Scribner (Logan), Caleb Hearon (Sidney), Sarah Sherman (Frankie), Justin Cooley (Byron), Kevin Matthew Reyes, Adam Herschman, and Lucas Zelnick.

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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz
Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive?
The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars

Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.

💊The Matrix

🔥Mad Max

🌧️Blade Runner

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🏜️Dune

🚀Star Wars

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01

You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do?
The first instinct is often the truest one.





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02

In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely?
What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.





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03

What kind of threat keeps you up at night?
Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.





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04

How do you deal with authority you don’t trust?
Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.





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05

Which environment could you actually endure long-term?
Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.





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06

Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart?
The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.





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07

Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all?
Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.





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08

What would actually make survival worth it?
Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.





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Your Fate Has Been Calculated
You’d Survive In…

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

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The Resistance, Zion

The Matrix

You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.

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  • You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
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The Wasteland

Mad Max

The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.

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  • You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
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Los Angeles, 2049

Blade Runner

You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

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  • You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
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Arrakis

Dune

Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

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  • Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
  • You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
  • Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
  • In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.


A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Star Wars

The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

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  • You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
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  • You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
  • In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.

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Is ‘Pizza Movie’ Worth Watching?

Well, based on critics’ reviews, Pizza Movie is a fun time as long as you don’t go in expecting a high-concept mindblowing experience. The film is simple and unserious, making it perfect for a relaxation session. “Pizza Movie is a charming throwback to the stoner comedies that inspired it, an ambitious college movie that knows how to take a simple idea and turn it into something broad, wild, and expansive. While the joke might start to get a bit thin near the end, Pizza Movie is a clever bit of fun, and we definitely need more broad comedies like this in the world,” Collider’s Ross Bonaime wrote in his review of Pizza Movie after watching a screening at 2026’s SXSW Festival.

Pizza Movie is available to stream on Hulu in the US. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.


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Release Date

March 13, 2026

Runtime

92 minutes

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Director

Nick Kocher

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Writers

Nick Kocher, Brian McElhaney

Producers
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Billy Rosenberg, Jeremy Garelick, Max A. Butler, Molle DeBartolo, Gaten Matarazzo, Will Phelps

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