Outraged parents blast movie bosses for backing TikTok trend that has left children in tears as suit-wearing teens wreck theatres, throw food and abuse staff at screenings of Minions: The Rise Of Gru
- Some UK cinemas have banned young people wearing suits during screenings of Minions: The Rise Of Gru
- Decision comes after young moviegoers were criticised for rowdy behaviour after viral trend began on TikTok
- New trend involves groups of teenage boys filming themselves going to watch the movie dressed in suits
- ** Have you had your trip to see the new Minions movie ruined? Please email: [email protected] **
Parents have blasted film studio Universal for encouraging teenage boys to wear suits to screenings of the new Minions film because their rowdy behaviour in cinemas brought on by a TikTok trend is leaving children in tears.
The trend is often accompanied by cheering, clapping and shouting and sees youngsters calling themselves ‘The Gentleminions’ wearing smart clothes to watch Minions: The Rise Of Gru and causing disruption during the movie.
Some UK cinemas have banned teenagers from wearing suits while others have cancelled all further screenings of the movie, which only came out last Friday – with one venue condemning ‘stunningly bad behaviour’ including vandalism, throwing food and abusing staff. Others have put up signs telling people not to dress up for the movie.
Despite the disruption in cinemas, movie studio Universal Pictures, which produced the film, has endorsed the #gentleminions trend, tweeting: ‘To everyone showing up to @Minions in suits: we see you and we love you’.
But one parent replied, saying: ‘We didn’t love them. My seven-year-old daughter and her best friend were terrified, of what were essentially football hooligans on tour. Excitement turned to fear within minutes of taking our seats, where we were met with shouting, swearing, feet banging, t**ts. Absolutely disgusting!’ Another Twitter user said: ‘Yes, least [sic] applaud the people ruining the movie that costs families £40/£50 in ticket prices.’
The trend was first promoted online about ten days ago when YouTubers and TikTokers posted mocked-up videos joking that cinemagoers should turn up to the film wearing suits. One of the main clips promoting this was ‘Tickets To Minions Please’ which was created by US-based ‘Meme Zee’ on June 26 and racked up 536,000 views.
As these videos circulated and gained traction in the days leading up to the film’s release on July 1, groups of young people began planning to dress up for the film – and then actually carried this out on the opening night.
One of the main videos promoting the trend was posted on June 30 by the TikTok user ‘@____pan’ – an account belonging to an unidentified person whose videos often attract hundreds of thousands of views – which showed a group of teenage boys wearing suits arriving at a cinema owned by Hoyts, a chain in Australia and New Zealand.
The clip was accompanied by the caption ‘why are people actually pulling up with suits’. It has since gained 17.2million views and been backed by the official Minions account which posted in reply: ‘This is the dress code’.
The Minions TikTok account then also backed the concept, posting a clip on July 2 saying ‘Bobspeed you gentleminions’ and including clips of boys wearing suits to screenings with the caption: ‘Your day has come’.
But the trend has caused chaos for cinemas, with the noisy behaviour of the boys during showings resulting in misery for families with young children trying to watch the latest instalment in the Despicable Me franchise.
The #gentleminions videos continue to be promoted on social media and show suited groups attending the screenings and copying the main character, supervillain Felonius Gru, and his signature hand gesture.
But one manager of a Vue Cinema in Worcester said they had to issue £1,300 worth of refunds in a single day due to complaints from customers about bad behaviour by the young people dressed in suits.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UQUDrknB0Fc%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
JUNE 26: The trend was first promoted online about ten days ago when YouTubers and TikTokers posted mocked-up videos joking that cinema-goers should turn up to the film wearing suits. One of the main clips promoting this was ‘Tickets To Minions Please’ which was posted by US-based ‘Meme Zee’ on June 26 and racked up 536,000 views
I thought it was a joke #fyp #minions #banana
JUNE 30: One of the main videos revealing the trend in action was posted on June 30 by the TikTok user @____pan which showed a group of teenage boys wearing suits arriving at a cinema owned by Hoyts, a chain in Australia and New Zealand. The clip was accompanied by the caption ‘why are people actually pulling up with suits’. It has since gained 17.2million views and been backed by the official Minions account which posted in reply: ‘This is the dress code’
JULY 1: Despite the disruption caused in cinemas, movie studio Universal Pictures, which produced the film, has endorsed the #gentleminions trend, tweeting: ‘To everyone showing up to @Minions in suits: we see you and we love you’
Bobspeed you gentleminions. 🤵 #Minions #TheRiseOfGru only in theaters now. #gentleminions #gentlemen #riseofgru #mintok
JULY 2: The Minions TikTok account then also backed the concept, posting a clip on July 2 saying ‘Bobspeed you gentleminions’ and including clips of boys wearing suits to screenings with the caption: ‘Your day has come’
They said: ‘The trend cost me £1,300 yesterday. I had to refund all of the tickets in that theatre because of kids shouting and mimicking the Minions while the film was playing.
‘It was a group of about eight kids. Now, when we see any kids coming in to see the film dressed up we give them a warning. We tell them that if there is one complaint, whatever that may be, they will be kicked out of the cinema.
‘It’s something being implemented across a lot of cinemas, I have colleagues in Cheltenham who I know have had problems as well.’
Guernsey’s only cinema, the Mallard Cinema, has stopped showing the movie after vandalism and ‘stunningly bad behaviour’. Its manager Daniel Phillips-Smith told BBC News that the groups abused staff in addition to ‘throwing things, swearing’, arguing with other attendees and vandalising the venue.
Another cinema manager added: ‘The issue with the trend is children running around and treating the film as an opera, shouting and clapping. We had one small disturbance but we asked the kids to be quiet and they were so, fortunately, it’s not been an issue for us.’
In the videos, which have racked up millions of views on the app, groups can be seen celebrating ‘the five-year wait is over’.
Minions rise of alphas #gentleminions
Despicable af 🍌 #fyp #minions #riseofgru #cineplex #gentleman
🍌#fyp #minions #banana
Some even took bananas to snack on during the screenings, referencing the favourite food of Gru’s yellow helpers, called Minions.
Some of the viral videos show those taking part cheering and clapping loudly and being disruptive during screenings, leading to some UK cinemas to enforce dress code restrictions.
One sign, reportedly from an Odeon cinema, was posted online saying those dressed in suits would be refused entry to the movie.
It read: ‘Due to recent disturbances following the #Gentleminions trend, any group of guests in formal attire will be refused entry for showings of Minions: The Rise of Gru.’
One independent cinema in Wadebridge, Cornwall, has banned any unaccompanied children who are wearing suits from watching the film.
In a statement posted on Twitter, The Regal wrote: ‘We are currently not admitting unaccompanied children wearing suits for ‘Minions: The Rise Of Gru’.
‘This is due to the issues we have encountered over the last two days and it’s associated behaviour.’
Other customers took to social media to complain that the latest viral phenomenon had ruined their enjoyment of the film.
One mother said: ‘Took the girls to see the minions movie this evening. Walked out after an hour and got a refund.
‘Pretty much the whole rear half of the cinema was full of teenagers screaming, shouting, chanting and yelling throughout the entire thing. Wtf is wrong with people?’
Another person wrote: ‘People going into the Minions movie and making a huge mess and screaming and ruining the movie for other people – you’re not funny and it’s incredibly difficult to deal with when other customers demand refunds for your s**ty behavior.’
The noisy trend sees hordes of teenage boys dressing up in suits to watch the new film Minions: The Rise Of Gru
Minions: The Rise of Gru is the sequel to the 2015 film Minions and was intended for release two years ago but was delayed
The sequel to Minions is already top of the box office in the US and Australia, making £106million in its opening weekend
Teenagers across the country are going to the cinemas suited and booted but are disturbing other cinemagoers
One customer added: ‘Absolute idiots ruined the movie for my two kids. They were upset by all the noise. Seems the youth of today are an inconsiderate bunch.’
The sequel to the 2015 film Minions was intended for release two years ago, but was delayed due to the pandemic.
It has already become a smash hit in the USA and Australia, topping the box office and making £106 million in its opening weekend.
An Odeon spokesman said: ‘Due to a small number of incidents in our cinemas over the weekend we have had to restrict access in some circumstances.’
MailOnline has contacted Universal Pictures for comment today.
** Have you had your trip to see the new Minions movie ruined? Please email: [email protected] **
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