Cineworld Newcastle clarifies that customers watching Minions: The Rise of Gru in suits not banned

Cineworld in Newcastle has clarified its position on customers wearing suits to watch Minions: The Rise of Gru not being permitted entry into the cinema.

A viral trend has seen large groups of teenage boys, often referring to themselves as 'Gentleminions', attending screenings dressed to the nines in their finest suits.

The idea was popularised on social media app TikTok with youngsters copying the Despicable Me franchise's main character's dress sense and trademark hand positioning.

Videos have attracted millions of views online but the trend has led to disruptive cheering, standing and clapping in cinema screens which has brought about complaints from other viewers.

Cinemas across the country have taken to banning customers from the cinema if they are wearing suits and on Tuesday morning a Cineworld employee told NewcastleWorld that all their cinemas had adopted the rule.

The chain owns Cineworld Newcastle, the biggest cinema venue in the city with 16 screens.

On Wednesday morning, however, Cineworld issued a satement to the site going against what its employee had said.

The satement read: “All minions are welcome in our cinemas, but any who partake in despicable behaviour will be asked to leave if they disrupt the enjoyment of others. Minions looking for a truly immersive way to experience this movie might want to try out our 4DX screens instead – it’s the most exhilarating way to watch a movie.”

One 18-year-old who took part in the viral trend explained his reasons why to The Digital Fix.

Jayden Tries, from Doncaster, said: "Day by day, there were more and more fine gents appearing on my TikTok doing it.

“There’s a twist however – I’m the world record holder for the mobile game Minion Rush.

“Therefore, I only felt it was right to hop on the trend as a homage to my success with the game.

"There was another group of fine gents there too, suited to the extreme.

“We formed an alliance and mutual respect for one another’s love for tiny yellow men.”