Featuring the acting talents of Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, and Danielle Brooks, A Minecraft movie is a CGI-heavy adventure with action, comedy, and an interesting spin on crafting items. But currently, that’s not exactly what the movie is known for.
The movie going experience was chaotic at best. With the simple phrase “chicken jockey,” from audiences came movements, lots of yelling which wreaked havoc upon theaters big and small. There was popcorn throwing, yelling, fireworks, and so much more. There was even a violent fight between 4 teens and 3 adults caused by asking the teens to quiet down which was reportedly caused by frustrated bystanders.
Online reactions were initially cringeworthy after an overall proper advertising campaign featuring Jack Black saying various Minecraft terms and phrases. Unexpectedly, A Minecraft Movie made a surprising, monumental first-week box office gross of 157 million in the US and Canada, and a worldwide gross of 720 million. This makes it the second highest-grossing film adaptation of a video game, which surpasses rival movie Avengers: Endgame..
The film’s grand success did not come from its overall quality, but from its overall appeal to Gen Z. Along with featuring a well-known intellectual property of the last decade, but also that its marketing campaign lead to a rather infamous side of the movie’s popularity.
A viewing of a Minecraft Movie is an enjoyable experience, with its humorous tone being its strength, despite its humor going almost unnoticed when moviegoers recited more of Jack Black’s lines than the movie’s broader humor.
These clips of the chaos can be seen all over Instagram, with reactions ranging from shocked, cringing, to even hatred. Yet, the trend persists with even special screenings made for just chicken jockey by theaters, as a recent post on Twitter from Regal Cinemas states, “Customers are invited to dress up as their favorite Minecraft characters, whoop, yelp, clap and shout “Chicken Jockey.” Regal has requested only that people “don’t go full creeper in the auditorium,” alluding to the destructive nature that happens when the “Chicken Jockey ”scene Comes on.
In an interview with the director of “A Minecraft Movie, Jared Hess, he stated that overall he doesn’t have a problem with the chicken jockey trend, stating, “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.” He added that there’s also a sense of community with the trend, “But, man, I’m just glad people are making memories with their friends and families.”
