Teens in Suits Flock to Record-Breaking 'Minions: The Rise of Gru' Because of Viral TikTok

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures

#Gentleminions, start your engines!

What began as a trend on TikTok that went viral last week — large groups of teenagers wearing formal attire to watchMinions: The Rise of Gru— has helped push the movie to a best-ever Independence Day weekend opening for a movie.

An Australian teenager was one of the first to capitalize on the bizarre social media trend,according to Variety. Bill Hirst of Sydney posted a video of his #Gentleminion friends that received more than 8.5 million views over the past week, the outlet reported.

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“My mate saw one of the first videos that was quite small at the time. We wanted to do it just for fun,” Hirst toldVariety. “We just chucked on our suits and went straight to the cinemas…It was very spontaneous. We had our formal literally a couple days before that. We had all had our suits ready.”

Gentleminion audience members often cheer loudly and copy Gru’s iconic steepled hand motions throughout the movie — sometimes to the distraction of other theater-goers.

In the U.S., the Illumination and Universal hit made $125.1M over the weekend, earning an Independence Day 4-day opening record according toDeadline.

The movie also features the voices of Pierre Coffin (the Minions), Julie Andrews as Gru’s mother, and Alan Arkin as Wild Knuckles, a mentor of sorts to Gru.Taraji P. Henson,Jean-Claude Van Damme,Lucy Lawless,Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo,Russell BrandandMichelle Yeohround out the cast of the animated movie.

Minions: The Rise of Gru(2022).Illumination

In the UK, some theaters have had to enforce dress code restrictions, with one independent location in Wadebridge, Cornwall, banning unaccompanied children wearing suits from watching the film,according to Sky Newsin Britain.

In a statement posted on Twitter before being deleted, The Regal wrote: “We are currently not admitting unaccompanied children wearing suits for ‘Minions: The Rise Of Gru,'” according to the news outlet.

Meanwhile, on July 1, Universal Pictures took to the platform to show its support for teenagers ‘round the world.

“To everyone showing up to@Minionsin suits: we see you and we love you,” the company tweeted.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is now playing in theaters.

source: people.com