Several theatres in the UK have banned teenagers wearing suits to screenings of ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’.
Teenagers following the #gentleminions TikTok trend have been accused of rowdy behaviour during screenings, with videos of several groups showing them being loud and throwing things at the screens, emerging on social media.
The #gentleminions trend involves large groups of mostly teenage boys, who call themselves ‘Gentleminions’ and watch the latest installment of the Despicable Me franchise, dressed in suits.
Why Minions is crushing the box office. pic.twitter.com/IsFSW7Tkrf
— Rob Keyes (@rob_keyes) 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
@martim__gonc Gentleminions Time 😈 #gentleminions #minionssquad💫 #minions #viral #fyp #tiktok #portugal #pub #publicidade ♬ Rich Minion - Yeat
Some videos show teens snacking on bananas during the screening, referencing the favourite food of Minions, the little yellow pill-shaped characters in the film.
The trend has gone viral worldwide, with several videos racking up millions of views.
Youngsters in Bahrain have hopped on the trend as well, with a number of videos emerging online showing formally-dressed teenagers watching the movie at Bahrain City Centre's Cineco theatre.
@ssgyousif please dont let this flop #dxb #bahrain #beirut #fyp #foryoupage #minions ♬ I feel it bryansanon unreleased - Bryansanon
While movie studio Universal Pictures has endorsed the trend on Twitter saying, "to everyone showing up to @Minions in suits: we see you and we love you", some UK cinemas have enforced dress code restrictions in response to "stunningly bad behaviour", including vandalism, throwing objects and abusing staff, from some groups of Gentleminions.
Images on social media showed several Odeon theatres displaying a sign that 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."
Thoroughly entertained by this sign @ODEONCinemas and then saw a bunch of kids in suits refused entry! #gentleminions pic.twitter.com/zo7seJ5COl
— 𝔾𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝔻𝕦𝕕𝕤 (@gillduds) July 3, 2022
"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," said the manager of a local cinema to the BBC.
He claimed that the theatre suffered a "massive" financial impact from all the refunds for customers whose viewing of the film had been disturbed.
Not all Gentleminions have been engaging in rowdy behaviour however, with some film-goers even praising their sense of humour.
A mother from the town of Surrey wrote on social media that a group of suited teens were “so much fun” and “so well-behaved” during a screening at her local theatre.
They even politely stopped bowing down and worshipping a giant poster of Gru, the villainous main character of the film, so her children could pose for a photo with it, she added.