The newest film in the Despicable Me franchise, Minions: The Rise of Gru, arrived in cinemas on July 1.
As a well-loved children's franchise, the film was expected to draw in large numbers of young children and their parents.
But people have been left baffled to see thousands of teenage boys descending on cinemas to watch the film, all while dressed in formal attire.
The confusing scenes are all part of a new TikTok trend known as #gentleminions.
But while most of the trend is just about having some innocent fun, some groups have started to wreak havoc in cinemas across the country.
Here's what you need to know about the minion TikTok trend and why teens are being banned from cinemas.
What is the #gentleminions trend?
#gentleminions is a trend that started on TikTok that involves large groups of teen boys attending viewings of the new Despicable Me prequel Minions: The Rise of Gru, all while dressed in formal suits and sometimes carrying bananas.
The teens are dressed in suits to mimic the film's main character Gru, while the bananas reference the favourite food of the Minions.
The trend also sees them applauding the film from start to end and clasping their hands together like Gru.
The gentleminions trend quickly went viral and TikTok has thousands of videos of groups participating, which has now taken off in countries outside the UK too.
No one quite knows how it started, and while it might be baffling to some, it's simply just a part of Gen Z humour and meme culture.
The Gen Z generation grew up with the Despicable Me Franchise, and gentleminions is an ironic appreciation of the film.
Why are teenagers in suits being banned from cinemas?
After the trend went viral, Universal Pictures responded on Twitter, saying: "To everyone showing up to @Minions in suits: we see you and we love you."
But not everyone has been left happy by the viral trend after some of the gentleminions events have been getting out of hand.
Some videos of the trend shows the teens getting rowdy as they throw bananas at the cinema screen and shout and dance throughout the film.
The behaviour means that some cinemas have now taken to banning those participating in the gentleminions trend, but to do this they've had to put a ban on formal attire.
One poster outside of an Odeon cinema 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.”
Addressing the bans, a spokesperson for the Odeon told Indy100: “Due to a small number of incidents in our cinemas over the weekend we have had to restrict access in some circumstances.”
