While movie theaters have issued warnings to people coming to see the film and have gone so far as to call the police during some screenings, Jared Hess sees the silly response to the film as a success
There are some cinematic events that movie theater employees can accurately predict the response to. They know what opening weekend for a blowout Marvel movie will look like in the same way they knew Swifties watching the Eras tour movie would likely be singing at the top of their lungs. But they couldn’t have seen the reaction to A Minecraft Movie coming. The unexpected box office hit is driving droves of young people to the theater, only to have them screaming and flinging popcorn once they’re there. Some screenings scored so high on the chaos scale that the police were called. Director Jared Hess thinks everyone needs to lighten up.
“It’s weird when you’re having too much fun and the cops get called,” Hess told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s funny because I think it’s just literally cheering and throwing popcorn, which is so funny to me that cops are getting called for popcorn. Yeah, it’s hilarious. I’ve seen so many funny videos. It’s great, especially when people are climbing on their friends’ shoulders and standing up and cheering for those moments. It’s like this crazy anticipation. But, man, I’m just glad people are making memories with their friends and families.”
Those memories have become nightmares for the theater owners who have started to post warnings ahead of A Minecraft Movie screenings. “Any form of anti-social behavior, especially anything that may disturb other guests such as loud screaming, clapping and shouting will not be tolerated,” read one posting at a theater in Oxfordshire, England. It threatened to remove attendees in violation of the warning without a refund. Another theater in Fareham warned: “Disruptive behaviour, including taking part in TikTok trends, before, during, or after a screening will not be tolerated. Anyone causing disruption will be asked to leave, and where necessary, the police will be called.”
Viral social media trends have aided in the response to the film. TikTok videos with upwards of two million views and hundreds of thousands of likes capture audience reactions to the “chicken jockey” scene in the film, as well as the collective echoing of Jack Black screaming out “I am Steve” in another scene. “I’m just so happy that people are finding joy in going back to cinemas and seeing things as a community, as a group of people,” Hess said. “It’s like we’ve become so isolated on our devices, and it’s just fun to experience things as a group of human beings. I think people are starved for that experience. So it’s fun that they’ve found it in this goofy movie that we’ve made.”
