Teens in Suits Banned From Cinemas Over Viral #gentleminions TikTok Trend
Groups of young viewers have been dressing up to go watch the record-breaking movie.
Teenagers have been hitting cinemas to watch Minions: The Rise of Gru, the latest movie to break Independence Day box office records with a $127.9 million USD opening. Some cinemas, however, have started to ban young people arriving at theaters dressed in suits, due to their distracting behavior caused by #gentleminions, the latest trend to go viral on TikTok.
As of writing, the hashtag has garnered over 4.4 million views, showing videos of teens dressed in suits arriving in large groups while imitating Felonious Gru, the supervillain in the Minions series. “The five year wait is over,” the clips are captioned, referring to the franchise’s previous installment Despicable Me 3, which was released in 2017.
As reported by BBC, these teens following the TikTok trend have been accused of “stunningly bad behavior” involving vandalism and abusing staff. One manager shared: “It’s been absolutely heartbreaking. We’ve had families who won’t even go back into the screen when we’ve tried to sort it out, families leaving before the film has even started, and of course the children have been in tears.”
Meanwhile, Universal Pictures has responded positively, addressing the trend on Twitter: “To everyone showing up to Minions in suits: we see you and we love you.” Unhappy followers have commented on the thread: “Sadly @ODEONCinemas turned away my lovely son and his lovely friends for exactly this reason. They said In Other cinemas in the country they’d had a “few” kid misbehaving so we’re now not letting anyone wearing suits in!” Another wrote: “Ya this is a great trend but seems like the teenagers get a little rowdy and could get kicked out of the theatre if they’re too excited this is a movie for kids but if anyone does this I will take a selfie with them.”
Some others have praised the #gentleminions that they witnessed, stating that they were “so much fun” and “so well-behaved.”
Take a look at the #gentleminions trend down below.
Why Minions is crushing the box office. pic.twitter.com/IsFSW7Tkrf
— Rob Keyes (@rob_keyes) July 3, 2022
better start believing it. #gentleminions pic.twitter.com/54Yo8652r3
— leviticus (@dramatdc) July 3, 2022
I love being gen z. We have so much power😭💀💀🤌🏼 #tiktok #MinionsTheRiseOfGru #Minions #gentleminions pic.twitter.com/2OUarPhubj
— Mr. Worldwide (@FairiesUnite) July 2, 2022
