There’s no denying that A Minecraft Movie has been insanely successful. It has grossed over $550 million, making it the most successful movie of the year. However, the movie lacks a compelling story, and critics and most viewers outside of Gen Z have left theaters extremely disappointed with the movie, and that’s because A Minecraft Movie was meant to be bad. Its success is purely driven by Gen Z’s ironic appreciation of the memeablity of how bad it is, sarcastically claiming it is “peak cinema.” This is a symptom that Gen Z has given up on Hollywood, prioritizing superficial humor (yeah, I’m talking about “Chicken Jockey”) over genuine quality because of the nature of internet culture.

But to Warner Brothers, the quality of the movie is irrelevant. 500 million ironic dollars is still 500 million dollars, even if that money comes from a bunch of brain rotted teenagers who only buy tickets to scream and throw popcorn. So what does this mean for the future of movies and why is this a problem? This isn’t just about one movie that made a bunch of undeserved money; it sets a precedent that the primary driver of cinema could shift to the potential of making online memes. Other studios are going to try to recreate the success of A Minecraft Movie by sacrificing storytelling for potentially memeable moments that will bring in more money at the box office. In other words, it seems like movies are going to be written not based on how good of a story it is but by their ability to create viral movements that will create publicity and thus more profits, which puts us at risk of a future flooded with shallow and poorly written films. A Minecraft Movie should serve as a warning that the quality of filmmaking is being eroded by big movie studios prioritizing big bucks over actual stories, and we may enter a phase where genuinely creative projects take a backseat to hollow entertainment churned out for clicks and shares.