LONDON – Several UK cinemas have banned teenagers from wearing Minion suits to screenings of The Rise of Crew due to rowdy behavior fueled by the TikTok trend.
# Teenagers following the Gentlemen’s trend have been accused of making noise and throwing objects during performances.
A One Place worker told the BBC he wanted to make sure the experience didn’t change from young children on their first trip to the cinema.
Some theaters said they wanted huge refunds.
Videos of young men in suits watching the movie in large groups and chanting loudly during the show went viral on TikTok, in some cases garnering millions of views.
The teenagers filmed themselves copying the fingers of regular movie villain Pelonius the puppy and celebrated “the five-year wait is over” – marking the time since the franchise’s last episode, Despicable Me 3.
Universal Pictures, your mom’s fashion studio, wrote on Twitter: “To all who show Minions in costumes: We see you and love you.”
But theaters were less well-received, with some complaining about the behavior of young fans attracted to Tik Tok.
Guernsey’s only cinema was forced to cancel further screenings of the film after it was accused of “gross behaviour”, including vandalism, throwing of objects and abuse of staff.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Mallard’s director Daniel Phillips-Smith. The families who didn’t show up, the families who left before the film started and the kids definitely cried when we tried to fix it.”
According to him, the cinema suffered a “huge” financial loss as all refunds were issued to customers whose movie viewing was disrupted.
Cinema regulars in Wedbridge, Cornwall, issued a statement saying they would no longer allow “unaccompanied children in suits” to screen the film.
The box office told the BBC that the suit-clad young men were “cheering, clapping, clapping” and on their feet throughout the film.
“After a while we tried to talk to people on the road, but it didn’t really happen.
“So we should have decided to stop it and say thank you very much, but we didn’t do the whole Tiktok movement,” said one team member.
“Our first movie ride had people with kids, and we wanted to preserve that.”
Images on social media showed signs at several Odeon theaters warning customers: “Due to the recent unrest at the #GentleMinions trend, a group of uniformed guests will be refused entry to screenings of Minions: The Rise of Crew.”
But some cinephiles appreciated the behavior of #Gentlemans in their shows.
Stace Woods, a teaching assistant from Surrey, said on social media that the suit-clad group had “so much fun” and “well-behaved” as they watched the film, and they politely stopped to bow and bow to the giant puppy poster. Children can take photos with him.
A Mansfield parent told Chad that the ban on teenagers wearing suits extended to two boys in her 13-year-old son’s group, who wore only white T-shirts with white collars.
They reportedly delayed a pre-booked screening so parents could travel down with some jumpers.
“Due to a small number of incidents at our cinemas over the weekend, we have had to restrict access in some circumstances,” an Odeon spokesperson said.
Cinema chain Vue said it would welcome all customers to see the “incredibly popular” film on its opening weekend.
The Minions film franchise, which began with Despicable Me in 2010, revives the supervillain Gru and his army of young yellow mercenaries, who quickly became the subject of endless online memes.
The latest film tells the story of Gru as an 11-year-old boy who struggles to land a career as a supervillain. – BBC
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