For many theatres across the world, the opening weekend for the film 鈥楳inions: The Rise of Gru鈥� was met with snazzy ties and bananas to spare.
The latest TikTok trend has teenagers dressing up in suits, sunglasses and carrying bananas to the film screening.
Hundreds of videos on the app with the hashtag #Gentleminions show moviegoers in their formal attire, shaking hands with one another upon meeting and attentively watching the film with closed palms to their chins.
While it is unclear how the trend began, one of the first videos to garner attention came from the TikTok user @bill.hirst. The video posted a week ago has gained 35.7 million views and 8.6 million likes on the app; showing the group of young men dressed in suits taking up an entire escalator on their way to the movie showing.
However, not all theatres have accepted the 鈥済entleminions,鈥� with some theatres in the U.K. reportedly banning guests dressed in suits over reports of 鈥渄isturbances鈥� from moviegoers. Posts on social media have included videos of guests being denied entry and
In Canada, there haven鈥檛 been any reports of malicious behaviour among guests. In a tweet posted on Monday, Cineplex shared a TikTok made by a fan participating in the trend and encouraged others to keep sharing their own videos.
鈥淗aving guests arrive in costume for big film releases is something that we鈥檙e used to at Cineplex, but what we saw this weekend and yesterday was something really unique and special,鈥� Cineplex鈥檚 spokesperson Sarah van Lange said in an email to CTVNews.ca
鈥淲e always ask our guests to be respectful of other movie-goers in the auditorium looking to enjoy the film and so far, the #GentleMinions have done just that.鈥�
The latest instalment of the 鈥淒espicable Me鈥� franchise follows the origin story of Gru, the leader of the minions and how his evil empire began. Over the weekend the film brought US$108.5 million in ticket sales across North America.
With files from The Associated Press.
