Theaters ejecting patrons as insane 'Minecraft Movie' trend trashes cinemas (2025)

From trashing rows and screaming to live animals, a viral social media trend is causing chaos in theaters around the globe.

Spectators have been flocking to cinemas to see “A Minecraft Movie,” which was theatrically released worldwide on April 4.

The movie — starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa — is a live-action adaptation of the popular video game “Minecraft.”

The film follows four misfits who “are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into a bizarre cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination,” its IMDb description states.

“A Minecraft Movie” has shattered box office expectations within the first week of its release. The film pulled in a record-breaking $163 million in the U.S. in its opening weekend and earned a global start of $313 million, Variety reported.

“A Minecraft Movie” is now the biggest domestic debut of the year and the best in history for a video game adaptation. However, these records are not the only form of destruction the film has indirectly caused.

One particular scene in the film has sparked a series of disruptive TikTok trends. In the scene, Black yells “Chicken jockey” as a pint-sized zombie mounts a bird inside a boxing ring. The scene has become an instant favorite among “Minecraft” mania, soliciting several obnoxious behaviors from moviegoers.

Sample behaviors include shouting, throwing popcorn, and spectators taking their shirts off and running up and down the theater. More extreme behaviors include patrons getting on top of someone’s shoulders and — in one instance — bringing a live chicken to the theater as captured in a video posted by The Hollywood Handle on X.

Police even kicked several young spectators out of a theater because “they were screaming and throwing popcorn during the ‘Chicken Jockey’ scene,” according to an X post from Culture Crave that referenced a TikTok that’s gotten more than 17 million views on the platform.

Theaters in the U.S. and U.K. have now issued warnings threatening to remove unruly spectators as a result of the trend.

Township Theatre in Washington Township, New Jersey has started requiring all minors intending to see “A Minecraft Movie” be accompanied by an adult. This was enacted after “large groups of unsupervised boys engaged in completely unacceptable behavior, including vandalism,” the theater wrote on Facebook Monday.

“Unaccompanied groups of boys will not be admitted,” Township Theatre wrote. “Thank you for helping us maintain a safe, respectful, and enjoyable environment for all of our guests.”

Meanwhile, Cineworld in Witney, England has posted a sign telling spectators to behave during showings of “A Minecraft Movie” or they will be kicked out without a refund, BBC reported.

“Any form of anti-social behaviour, especially anything that may disturb other guests such as loud screaming, clapping and shouting will not be tolerated,” the sign reads. “Anyone who is found to be acting in this manner will be removed from the screening and not entitled to a refund.”

Similar practices have been carried out at REEL cinema in Fareham, England and The Renfrew Street Cineworld in Glasglow, Scotland.

Other major theater chains in the U.S. such as AMC, and Cinemark have yet to publicly comment on the matter.

Showcase Cinemas told MassLive in a statement Friday that the company is “seeing communal enjoyment of ‘A Minecraft Movie’ across our theaters” and asks “moviegoers to be respectful of others and our theaters.”

MassLive has reached out to the other companies for comment.