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ENTERTAINMENT

What is the Minions: Rise of Gru viral Tik Tok trend?

The sequel prequel to Despicable Me is set to become one of the largest July 4 openings of all time, helped in no small part by a viral trend on Tik Tok.

Update:
The sequel prequel to Despicable Me is set to become one of the largest July 4 openings of all time, helped in no small part by a viral trend on Tik Tok.
VALERIE MACONGetty

With every film coming out of Hollywood being a sequel to a well-established franchise, audiences could be forgiven for pushing back and refusing to pay for the tickets. New ideas have long been sidelined for big budget films, especially in times in which it is not known whether a cinema will be open or covid-19 restrictions can be introduced. Producers are rightly scared about putting a lot of money into a project that could flop.

But two recent films of bucked the trend, big time. Top Gun: Maverick, the legacy sequel made nearly 40 years after the original, recently broke the $1 billion box office barrier with jaw-dropping, boundary-pushing spectacle. While not perhaps on the same technical level, Minions: The Rise of Gru, promises to smash that. Its original weekend estimates were as low as $70 million, but after an emphatic reception and huge audience turnout that has been pushed up to nearly $130 million. Considering the film cost $85 million to make, it will be on course to make its money back (including factoring marketing) mere days after its release on July 1.

While the film has utilised many of the traditional avenues of marketing such as billboards and adverts, a surprise trend has taken social media by storm, garnering millions of views for an audience that would not be considered the normal target. This is the viral Tik Tok trend that has swept Minions along with it.

What does the trend consist of?

It’s not a particularly hard trend to follow. Simply, groups of people, some up to 30 strong, dress in as smart clothes as possible in a bid to make it look like they are taking the film incredibly seriously. A similar thing happened with the film Morbius, in which people made so many jokes about it on the internet that the irony went full circle.

It’s fair enough, why should arthouse indie productions be treated any differently to films about yellow beans saying banana?

Some of the videos, like these two, have millions of views and likes. Audiences can be seen whooping and cheering when the minions come onto the screen.

@houseofhighlights

There’s so many of them 💀💀 (@billh) #minions

♬ original sound - House of Highlights

While the trend originated in English speaking countries, the trend has spread to many more such as this clip in Spain.

Despite Generation Z not being the targets for Gru and his gang in any way, maybe this could be the reason for its surge in popularity, especially on social media.