A bizarre TikTok trend finds teenage boys flocking to screenings of the animated sequel Minions: The Rise of Gru draped in formal suits. Several viral TikToks depict 100s of teenagers congregating at the movie theater and riding the escalator en route to their screening of the zany film featuring the infamous little yellow henchmen. There is also footage of the teens, mostly boys, sitting in an eerily similar fashion before bursting into applause when the film ends. This is apparently happening across the globe and seems to possibly be a not insignificant reason as to why Minions: The Rise of Gru is seeing so much success at the box office.
Several movie theaters do not find the humor in the latest TikTok trend and are turning to Twitter to express their outrage. The Regal Wadebridge, a small theater in the UK, made its feelings known in a tweet that read “Customer Notice: We are currently not admitting unaccompanied children wearing suits for ‘Minions: The Rise Of Gru’ (U) This is due to the issues we have encountered over the last two days and its associated behaviour. Thank you.”
The Regal Wadebridge is not the only theater that is fed up with the youth, with several other theaters also saying they will not sell tickets to large groups of young people in suits. Other theaters are also refusing entry to anyone in formal attire wishing to see the film, referring to the trend as #GentleMinions. Universal, however, seems to be much more positive about the trend, with their official Twitter page posting a message for these teens: “To everyone showing up to @Minions in suits: we see you and we love you.”
Minions: The Rise of Gru was released this month and has already grossed a total of $221.6 million against a budget of around $85 million. It is not clear how much of those numbers are because of this TikTok trend, but it’s easy to imagine that it could be bringing in a good percentage of the profit. Minions: The Rise of Gru is the sequel to 2015’s Minionswhich made over $1.159 billion worldwide. Minions itself was a prequel to the Despicable Me franchise, which spawned three movies. Minions features the voices of Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Julie Andrews, Russell Brand, Jean,Claude Van Damme, Danny Trejoand Lucy Lawless, The film will be available to stream on Peacock within four months of its initial theatrical release.
The world may never know why teens have decided to dress in suits to see Minions: The Rise of Gru, but it seems that Gen Z will do anything for the meme. It could also be because the youth of today have had a hard past few years and any excuse to dress up and have fun is absolutely worth it. Whatever the reason for this TikTok trend is, it’s definitely helping out the movie industry by boosting box office numbers big time. You can check out Universal’s tweet down below, as well as a few TikToks from the #GentleMinions movement.
Minions: The Rise of Gru is out now in theaters.
