LONDON | Several UK cinemas have banned access to costumed teenagers who have come to see the latest opus in the saga of minions due to the scuffle of some young viewers encouraged by a movement on TikTok.
• Also read: “The Minions 2” triumphs at the box office for America’s national holiday
Following the #gentleminions trend, groups of teenagers in suits and ties imitating the main character Felonius Gru and his signature gestures disrupted screenings of the film, which was released in the UK on Friday, filming themselves and posting videos on social networks, that went viral.
“Due to a small number of incidents in our cinemas over the weekend, we had to restrict access in certain circumstances,” said a spokesman for the cinema chain Odeon.
The Mallard, the only cinema on the Channel Island of Guernsey, stopped showing the film due to the “incredibly bad behavior” of some groups.
Cinema director Daniel Phillips-Smith told the BBC that these young moviegoers “threw things, cursed” and argued with other viewers during screenings.
An independent cinema in Wadebridge, Cornwall, The Regal, warned on Twitter: “We are not currently accepting unaccompanied minors wearing costumes for Minions 2: Once Upon a Time Gru”.
This animated film, whose broadcast by Universal was delayed by two years due to the pandemic, explores the origins of the main character of the franchise, which has grossed $3.7 billion at the box office since the first Despicable Me in 2010 specialized site IMDB, without counting the multiple derivatives.
This film, which was released in the United States, United Kingdom and China on Friday before its release in France on Wednesday, traces the beginnings of Gru, the lovable villain who failed in this saga and who, Teenage and surrounded by an army of Minions, strives to integrate a group of villains, the Vicious 6.
For its part, Universal, which produced this animated film, agreed with the runaway, tweeting, “To everyone who shows up in costume for the @Minions: we see you and we love you.”