Families went bananas for Minions this weekend at the movie theater. Minions: The Rise of Gru brought in an estimated USD 108.5 million (Rs 853 crore) in ticket sales from 4,391 screens in North America. By the end of Monday’s July Fourth holiday, it will likely have earned over USD 127.9 million (Rs 1003 crore).
The film is on track to become one of the biggest openings ever for a July Fourth holiday weekend, a record previously held by Transformers: Dark of the Moon which made USD 115.9 million (Rs 908 crore) in its first four days in 2011. Including international showings, where Minions: The Rise of Gru is playing in 61 markets, its worldwide gross is sitting at USD 202.2 million (Rs 1,596 crore) through Sunday. Meanwhile, images of Gen Z, all suited up, arriving at theaters to watch Rise of Gru have gone viral on social media.
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Who are GentleMinions?
Since the film hit the theaters on July 1, a series of TikTok videos showing large groups of teenage boys riding up escalators in a black-and-white procession of moviegoers went viral. This led to the birth of the #GentleMinions movement, where large groups of people went to watch the movie clad in suits.
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GentleMinions create trouble for theaters
The GentleMinions trend turned problematic when these groups became involved in misbehaviour at the various cinema chains. There were reports of popcorn being thrown in the air, hitting the other watchers, wasting food, and unnecessarily littering the auditoriums. In one UK theatre, a moviegoer threw a banana at the screen, thereby damaging it. Now, this led to many theaters banning the seemingly harmless GentleMinions from attending the cinema halls.
The voice cast of Rise of Gru
The voice cast of Minions: Ride of Gru features Steve Carell, reprising his role as Gru, Alan Arkin, Michelle Yeoh and Julie Andrews as Gru’s mother. Critics were mixed to positive (it currently has a 72% on Rotten Tomatoes) but audiences were more enthusiastic, giving the Gru origin story an A CinemaScore.
(Inputs from AP News)
