Why are Israeli teenagers getting kicked out of screenings of Minions: Rise of Gru?

The strange behaviour is believed to be part of the viral "Gentleminions" trend, where large groups of male teenagers semi-ironically book huge groups of seats to screenings of the movie.

Once in the auditoriums, the suited Minions fans often disrupt screenings, throwing food and shouting, ostensibly in admiration for the Dreamworks picture.

According to internet archivist Knowyourmeme, the trend began in late June, when prominent Youtubers and Twitch streamers began joking about the movie's release.

This semi-ironic adoration for the Minions movie then spilled over into real life as groups of teen boys planned to book out screenings and post the videos to Tiktok.

Not even Israel is safe from the teens crashing Minions 2 screenings pic.twitter.com/XUWxFyluqz

— Josh Kaplan (@JNkappers) July 4, 2022

Groups across the world have been seen in theatres, with videos surfacing from the US, UK, Australia and Canada receiving hundreds of millions of views.

https://www.tiktok.com/@mr_lean777/video/7115031141115120901

It's believed that the trend has helped the movie's opening weekend performances. In Israel alone, 100,000 people viewed the film in its first weekend, which the Jerusalem Post said makes it the best opening ever for an animated feature film in the country.

The phenomenon has also been seized upon by the film's makers, with the official Minions Tiktok account endorsing the behaviour, posting a video supporting the suited viewers captioned "Bobspeed you gentleminions."

@minions

Bobspeed you gentleminions. 🤵 #Minions #TheRiseOfGru only in theaters now. #gentleminions #gentlemen #riseofgru #mintok

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But there's also been a backlash to the movement, with some cinema chains taking action to prevent disturbances at their screenings.

A sign was spotted at an Odeon cinema in the UK this weekend which read: "Due to recent disturbances following the #Gentleminions trend, any group of guests in formal attire will be refused entry for showings of Minions: The Rise of Gru."