Box office: ‘Minions: Rise of Gru’ sparks meme frenzy among young people

Minions: The Rise of Gru has an incredible display to be thankful for for lighting the 4th of July box office fireworks with one of the best animated tops of all time: male teens and male young adults.

The TikTok meme #GentleMinions has been gaining traction over the weekend as Gen Z men showed up to theaters in overalls and scarfs, in the best form of supervillain Gru, to see the latest installment. my favorite villain Franchise. Some videos posted on social media show him favoring minion stadiums in the lobby.

“This is what happens when a generation grows up with a franchise,” says a source close to the film. Universal’s president of domestic distribution, Jim Orr, added, “The film is being shown to a very broad audience, including families and young people.”

According to PostTrak, 34 percent of the opening weekend audience was between the ages of 13 and 17, which was unusually high for an animated film. This compares to 8% for the last title in the series, Despicable Me 3which debuted in 2017.

As further testament to the #GentleMinions craze, the latest film was split almost evenly by gender, 51% female and 49% male. compared to Despicable Me 3 More feminine inclination (55 percent).

So far, nearly 90% of Illumination and Universal audiences The Rise of the Gru are over 25 years old, 25 percent of participants are under 12 years old.

The film is making history in the pandemic era with a domestic opening of $125 million or more over the long Friday-Monday weekend, including an estimated $107 million over three days. It’s the biggest showing of a family-friendly title since the COVID-19 hit, and it’s in the top 10 for an animated Hollywood movie of all time.

“Audiences were more willing to go out and see this movie,” says Or. “It’s great to see a box office like this.”

The lackeys The official TikTok account, which supports the #GentleMinions movement, says it all about the meme explosion in recent days. The account has attracted 3 million followers since its creation 10 months ago and 1 million last week.

@minions

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

♬ Powerful music like action movie music – Tansa

Universal Marketing intended the brand to be cool and relevant to those who grew up owning the franchise. It seems to have worked, judging by the hordes of young people who organically started dressing Gru and appearing in local theaters.

A UK theater, the Odeon, went so far as to post a warning sign denying entry to anyone participating in the meme and wearing the signature outfit after other patrons complained of rude behavior, including unconfirmed reports from #GentleMinions. in which they throw bananas. Lighting screens and cigars. Neither the truck nor the lights seem particularly worried.

“[Universal] managed to penetrate that group,” says a source marketing the film, which stars Steve Carell, Taraji P. Henson and Pierre Coffin, among others. “The brand was cool enough to get their attention and become a meme.”