A string of cinemas have issued statements slamming audiences for ‘erupting into sheer pandemonium’.
While A Minecraft Movie, which has been slammed by critics, has smashed box office records since launching over the weekend, it’s alsoencouraged a disturbing behaviour trend in cinemas.
The film, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, has enjoyed one of the biggest-grossing weekends of 2025 so far.
In A Minecraft Movie, four misfits – Garrett ‘The Garbage Man’ Garrison (Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Eugene Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers) and Dawn (Danielle Brooks) – find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination.
To get back home, they’ll have to master this world while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Black). Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon and Jermain Clement also feature in the cast.
That enthusiasm has also been mirrored by the raucous response in cinemas – but to an alarming degree.
Following its release, cinemagoers have been sharing footage of wild audience reactions from inside cinemas on social media.
One moment in particular has seen fans screaming, cheering and even climbing on their friends’ shoulders in one clip that’s gone viral.
The sequence in question involves Black and Momoa confronting a cuboid Minecraft chicken being ridden by another character that looks like a baby Frankenstein. ‘Chicken jockey!’ yells Black, in a moment that saw one theatre full of fans erupt in quite frankly feral behaviour, throwing popcorn, turning on their torches, leaping to their feet and shouting.
‘My theatre clapped every time Jack Black name dropped a Minecraft item that was in the trailers, and when he said Chicken Jockey I s**t you not the entire row in front of me gave a standing ovation,’ shared cinemagoer @Schaffrillas on X.
‘I’d walk out and ask for a refund if this is how people are behaving,’ insisted Geralt on TikTok in reaction.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
‘When Jack Black said “Chicken Jockey,” the theatre erupted into sheer pandemonium. Kids were cheering, clapping and jumping onto the tops of seats. Whenever Jack Black sang, the kids would get up and start dancing in the aisles.
‘I was here and I couldn’t hear anything throughout the movie. Very disappointed in the Minecraft community,’ added LuCha.
‘Are people no longer quiet in the cinema, or is this a cultural difference kind of thing where behaving like this is ok wherever they are?’ asked Lycos.
‘That was the wildest theatre experience of my life,’ @thekinocorner posted after watching A Minecraft Movie, sharing how the audience of youngsters ‘would clap and hoot and holler whenever one of the meme lines was said or when they recognized something from the game’.
‘They acted like this wasn’t a movie, but a rock concert. It was a complete expression of a mix of genuine love for Minecraft and irony poisoning and the result was pure chaos for 100 or so minutes. This is probably the proper way to see this film.’
Others were far less impressed with this feral behaviour, with a video shared purporting to even show of a group of teenagers being escorted out of a US cinema by police after reportedly causing too much disruption.
In a statement posted online, The Regent Cinema in Newtown, Wales urged people to ‘not partake in the viral trend’.
‘We are all for a bit of fun here along as it doesn’t cross a line and you are being considerate to everyone else,’ it read.
‘Unfortunately, during last night showing a line was crossed with a small minority of individuals which we deem completely un acceptable.
‘From today we will be taking a zero tolerance approach to this trend and we will be stopping the movie at any time if anyone decides to partake and they will be removed from the cinema and no refund will be given. There will be no warnings if you partake you are out.’
The Ritz Multiplex in Cookstown, Northern Ireland also called out ‘utterly shocking behaviour’ where ‘certain individuals are shouting, clapping, swearing, kicking chairs, and throwing popcorn and drinks everywhere’.
‘Such disruption is taking place during almost every showing and is totally ruining the movie experience for genuine cinema customers and destroying our screens,’ it said.
‘The level of verbal abuse towards our staff and other customers is ridiculous. Our staff are genuinely trying their very best to control the situation to ensure all customers enjoy the movie. However, when staff request that disruptive customers leave the premises they are shouted at, swore at, and met with threats such as “make me” and much worse.
‘We are saddened and disappointed that we have had to make a post like this, but no-one should have to tolerate such behaviour. We want everyone to enjoy their cinema experience. Please respect our cinema, our customers, and our staff.’
Meanwhile a sign displayed at Cineworld in Witney, Oxfordshire warned people any form of anti-social behaviour would see them removed without a refund.
Other cinemas have now gone so far as to schedule screenings where ‘clapping, cheering, and shouting is absolutely encouraged’ to keep fans happy.
The blockbuster, which is a big screen adaptation of the 2011 3D sandbox video game, managed to rake in a massive $301million (£234m) globally during its first three days on release, far beyond even hopeful projections.
It earned $157m (£122m) in the US, where analysts had predicted it to manage somewhere between $70m – $90m (£54.5m – £70m) according to Variety, and then added $144m (£112m) from international territories to make its enviable total.
Considering A Minecraft Movie’s $150m (£116.7m) production budget – before any marketing costs – it’s a strong start, and one Warner Bros will be delighted to see after back-to-back flops with big-budget sci-fi Mickey 17 from Bong Joon Ho and Robert Pattinson, and Robert De Niro’s disappointing return to the gangster genre in The Alto Knights.
It’s also in sharp contrast to Disney’s fortunes with Snow White, which managed only $87.3m (£67.9m) on its opening weekend, despite a price tag of roughly $250m (£194m) before any publicity, and has just $168.3m (£130.9m) after over two weeks on release.
However, it’s only managed to dredge up a rating of 48% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, where it was branded ‘a mindless and thoughtless nostalgia trip’, ‘frankly catastrophic’ and ‘a hyperactive hot-pink mess of a movie’.
‘We just don’t want to be the one to inform God what his creations hath wrought with this expensively cheap, 100-percent corporate mess,’ sniped Rolling Stone in its review.
However, it boasts a far higher audience score at 88%.
A Minecraft Movie is out in cinemas now.
A version of this article was originally published on April 7, 2025.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.