Illumination/Universal
- Minions: The Rise of Gru recently hit theaters.
- The movie has become an instant meme.
- People have been showing up to theaters in full suits to watch the film.
Over the weekend, Minions: Rise of Gru became the highest-grossing July 4th weekend release ever as it racked up close to $130 million at the box office.
One of the reasons that Rise of Gru has become such a massive success is due to its popularity on social media, as an absurd but admittedly hilarious trend called #Gentleminions blew up over the weekend, with potentially thousands of people arriving at theaters around the world dressed in full suits.
While the trend has helped spur the film at the box office, it’s also caused some controversy as videos from screenings with “Gentleminions” in attendance have largely been quite rowdy, which is obviously a disturbance to any regular movie-goers (predominantly families with young children) that aren’t in on the joke.
#Gentleminions trend takes over social media as teens flock to movie theaters dressed in suits to see The Rise of Gru
https://www.tiktok.com/@ig.jj_masarati8/video/7116589105777102085
@benedicthoward_ The most anticipated of the year. #riseofgru #minions #gentleminions
https://www.tiktok.com/@lyndon.c/video/7115283541558103301
@postedperhizzle @Minions @Cole Bennett #minions #minionsriseofgru #gentleminions #fyp #postedperhizzle
https://www.tiktok.com/@alialhilfi63/video/7116244791490432302
As a result, some theaters are now prohibiting teenagers dressed in suits from purchasing tickets to Minions: Rise of Gru, which — for an industry that struggled so mightily over the last two years — feels like cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Theaters are starting to ban #GentleMinions groups from entering due to 'recent disturbances'#Minions2 pic.twitter.com/KK7v46pJvN
— ScreenTime (@screentime) July 4, 2022
It would certainly be interesting to see what Universal Pictures, the studio behind the film who now has a behemoth, somewhat unexpected hit on its hands, thinks about theaters turning away potentially paying customers that reportedly make up a majority of the audience (34%) watching the film.
The majority of the audience (34%) watching ‘Minions: #TheRiseOfGru’ this weekend was between ages 13 and 17.
Analysts call it an “unusually large showing among teenagers for an animated movie.”
(Source: https://t.co/0buFNJQokg) pic.twitter.com/9QiuNRaOVO
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 4, 2022
What a strange world we live in.
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