Some Cinemas In The U.K. Are Trying To Put A Stop To A Strange New ‘Minions’ TikTok Trend

Independence Day weekend is always a big one at the movies, and this year was ruled by one group in particular: Minions. (Meanwhile, Top Gun: Maverick is still raking in the dough in its sixth weekend.) The yellow semi-baddies’ second film broke box office records over its first four days of release, but some did more than simply go see it. Indeed, it spawned a new TikTok trend that got so out-of-control that some theaters on the other side of the pond have taken action.

According to the BBC, a trend called “#gentleminions has taken control of a good chunk of the Minions sequel’s audience. It involves teenagers, raised on the Despicable Me franchise, going to see the movie en masse, all of them jokingly dressed up in two-piece suits, complete with ties.

Both the Minion and Universal Pictures Twitter accounts approved of the trend.

Not everyone, though, was very gentlemanly.

https://twitter.com/cleoofffilm/status/1543581199838453761

In fact, some of the #gentleminion crowds have been causing a ruckus, making loud noises, even throwing things. That’s led to families fleeing theaters and demanding refunds. In the U.K., some theaters have responded by cancelling screenings, others banning “unaccompanied children” from the movie, which was made for children.

https://twitter.com/wtw_wadebridge/status/1543276018072526852

One chain in the U.K. banned anyone with “formal attire” from buying Minions tickets.

The Minions first appeared in the original Despicable Me, as the Oompa-Loompa-esque henchcreatures of Steve Carell’s Gru. They provded so popular that they got their own prequel in 2015. The sequel to that was originally supposed to be released in the summer of 2020, but instead of dumping it on a streamer, Universal waited things out, just as Paramount and Tom Cruise did with Top Gun 2.

(Via BBC)