MST3K Returns: The RiffTrax Experiments Brings the Cult Show Back to Theaters After a $2.7M Crowdfund
A Kickstarter campaign that asked for $20,000 and raised $2.7 million in a month is sending Mystery Science Theater 3000 back to cinemas. The first episode of MST3K: The RiffTrax Experiments — a new series of four episodes arriving in 2026 — hits theatres on 9 September and 13 September via Fathom Entertainment and RiffTrax, with Kickstarter backers receiving it through their accounts in October (Billboard; Fathom Entertainment).
The premiere episode, titled "Sting of Death," features Mike Nelson and the bots riffing the 1965 horror film of the same name (Fathom Entertainment). The series reunites the core Sci-Fi Channel-era cast: Michael J. Nelson, who hosted MST3K from 1993 to 1999; Kevin Murphy, who voiced the robot Tom Servo from 1990 to 1999; and Bill Corbett, who voiced Crow from 1997 to 1999 and returned in 2020. Mary Jo Pehl, Frank Conniff and Trace Beaulieu also reprise their original roles (Billboard; RiffTrax).
The campaign launched in February 2026 and crossed the $2.7 million mark within a month, according to Billboard. That figure dwarfs the $20,000 target by a factor of 135. The money funds four new episodes, the first sustained run of MST3K-branded content since the show's 2022 crowdfunding efforts under previous ownership.
RiffTrax itself is a 20-year-old franchise built on movie-mocking commentary tracks and live shows, run by the same trio at its centre — Nelson, Murphy and Corbett. The RiffTrax Experiments effectively merges the two brands: MST3K's characters and format with the RiffTrax team's creative control. MST3K is currently owned by Radial Entertainment, which purchased the property from creator Joel Hodgson earlier in 2025 (Billboard).
MST3K has aired in one form or another since 1988 — across public access television, cable, streaming services and fan-funded episodes. Music has been part of the formula from early on. Nelson wrote many of the songs performed in the show's host segments, composing them on a keyboard tucked inside a 3-by-3-foot phone closet on the side of the stage. For The RiffTrax Experiments, songwriter Jonathan Coulton — known for his internet-era cult following and work on the Portal video game soundtrack — created a new version of the MST3K theme song (Billboard).
For fans, the appeal is straightforward: the people who made the show's late-1990s run are the people making this new one, and they cleared a crowdfunding bar that suggests real appetite for more. Theatrical screenings give the format a communal push that streaming commentary tracks can't replicate — the show was built on the idea of watching a bad film with company. Four episodes in 2026, with the first arriving in September, is a concrete slate rather than a promise of "more to come."
