The movie world is drastically changing with Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), the surprise hit that only teenagers and young adults were expected to explode at the box office. Now, the actions of an online movement are coming to a halt at movie theaters.
#Gentleminions, a new online movement centered around moviegoers dressing in their nicest attire to attend the opening of Minions: The Rise of Gru, has taken Hollywood by storm, causing the Despicable Me (2010) spinoff to absolutely explode at the box office.
With The Rise of Gru grossing over $200 million worldwide just two days after its domestic opening, the Universal animated picture outperforms every movie at the box office (at the time of writing).
Nonetheless, the Minions’ success is mainly due to an online trend consisting of moviegoers, particularly teenagers, donning black tuxedos and bringing bananas to sold-out viewings of The Rise of Gru:
With some theaters posting warnings at the entrance of cinemas warning the banning of #Gentleminions moviegoers, other theaters are flat out threatening to call the police:
Imagine being a parent unaware of the meme chaos & hearing this warning before #Minions
In the above video, one movie usher addresses a Rise of Gru crowd before the picture begins rolling, stating that “you will not scream, you will not clap at the beginning of this movie. If you do, you will be out without a refund, and if you refuse to leave, we will call the cops to have you removed.”
The movie attendant is simply doing her job. Still, unfortunately, with recent reports of theaters being left in disarray after the #Gentleminions reportedly throw bananas at the screen and march around the theaters singing along with the loveable yellow creatures, businesses are taking it into their own hands to keep order and peace for the rest of audiences simply trying to watch the new family film:
Theaters erupted during screenings of Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) when Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield appeared in the Marvel movie, but The Rise of Gru is being subjected to landmark reactions.
With the Minions sequel only growing in popularity and the new trend fully taking off, only time will tell what theaters must do to ensure enjoyable experiences for all audiences.
More about Minions: The Rise of Gru
In the heart of the 1970s, amidst a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru (Steve Carell) is growing up in the suburbs. A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them. Luckily, he gets some mayhem-making back-up from his loyal followers, the Minions. Together, Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto – a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please – deploy their skills as they and Gru build their first lair, experiment with their first weapons, and pull off their first missions. When the Vicious 6 oust their leader, legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin), Gru interviews to become their newest member. It doesn’t go well (to say the least), and only gets worse after Gru outsmarts them and suddenly finds himself the mortal enemy of the apex of evil. On the run, Gru will turn to an unlikely source for guidance, Wild Knuckles, and discover that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.
In the wake of Minions: The Rise of Gru breaking Independence Day box office records, Illumination announced Despicable Me 4, which is currently set for a July 3, 2024 release.
