“Minions: The Rise of Gru” broke records last weekend: Already totaling $125.1 million in the box office, it’s now the highest-earning film over a Fourth of July weekend ever, according to Variety.
However, during the successful opening holiday weekend, families going to see the film may have witnessed something odd: dozens of young people in suits lining up to see the new “Minions” movie — a trend that, in some cases, got out of hand.
The rise of #Gentleminions: Over the weekend, a viral TikTok trend blossomed after several groups of teens posted videos of themselves attending the “Minions” movie in large numbers, dressed in suits and even eating bananas, with the tag #Gentleminions.
- Videos on TikTok with the song “Rich Minion” by the popular rapper Yeat have gained millions of views, and even participation from large creators such as YouTuber Mr. Beast.
- The trend got so big that the well-dressed moviegoers were even recognized by Universal Pictures itself.
- “To everyone showing up to @Minions in suits: we see you and we love you,” the studio said in a tweet.
- Paper Magazine (warning: this article includes strong language) called the trend “post-ironic,” as the movie had become sort of an online meme partially due to the use of underground artists and rappers for the movie soundtrack.
- The movie score took the internet by surprise, as the film was accompanied by artists popular among Gen Z, not typically what you’d expect for a popular kids movie, according to Paper.
- However, the popularity among Gen Z could be credited to the fact that some of these teens may have grown up watching these movies, given the first “Despicable Me” film was released in 2010.
- “That’s what adds to the meme,” a teenager from Maryland who participated in the TikTok trend told Variety. “I feel like some people genuinely think that teenage boys are going out of their way to see the movie just to wear suits. Maybe some people are doing that. But I’m sure a majority of people in my generation — because we grew up with the ‘Despicable Me’ movies — now have nostalgia and enough money to see it on our own. We’ll be inclined to do so in our own way. It’s funny to see how that turns into such a big trend.”
A ‘Minions’ catastrophe: In some places, the trend has gotten so out of hand that a number of theaters have banned “Gentleminions” from attending the movie.
- BBC News reported that a number of showings have been disrupted by rowdy teens who were accused of yelling, cheering and throwing things throughout the film, as well as vandalism.
- “It’s been absolutely heartbreaking,” a cinema manager from the U.K. told BBC. “We’ve had families who won’t even go back into the screen when we’ve tried to sort it all out, families leaving before the film has even started, and of course the children have been in tears.”
- Another theater in the U.K. temporarily stopped all screenings of the movie because the trend got out of hand, according to CBC Radio.
- In a TikTok video posted by Barstool Sports, the trend got so out of hand that police arrived at the theater after a mosh pit broke out during a showing.