Chaos In The Theaters

Written by Madison Fairweather,

 April 4, 2025 chaos erupted in theaters worldwide after the premier of “A Minecraft Movie”. The movie is based off of the common video game, Minecraft, that gives players access to a submersive world of creativity where they can build, explore, and survive against natural disasters and varying monsters. The movie more specifically follows the main character, Steve, who is an unexpected crafter that guides four others on a magical quest to save the Overworld. But, through the usage of the trending app, Tiktok, a viral trend has spread throughout the theaters. The trend involves disruptive, exaggerated, and humorous reactions to varying scenes. Viewers recite the lines; “I…am steve”, “This is a crafting table”, “This is minecraft”, “The nether”, “Flint and Steel,” and the most significant line “Chicken Jockey”. Following these iconic lines, viewers collectively applaud the characters. Although, while seemingly harmless, the most common line, “chicken jockey”, has led to law enforcement and acts of criminal offense. The chicken jockey is a scene in which a baby zombie appears on the back of a chicken in a fighting arena. The trend involves screaming the line, “CHICKEN JOCKEY”, jumping out of seats, vomiting, breaking out into fights, and throwing popcorn and drinks into the air or even at the movie screen. Such behavior has led to utterly trashed theaters, exasperated employees, vandalism and serious violence. Many theaters have had to call in law enforcement to deal with unruliness. One theater in New Jersey banned all minors from seeing the film without a legal guardian and others have had to remove all viewers from the theater due to unacceptable, uncontainable behavior. More locally, the South Shore theaters now require managers to monitor theaters that play the movie and are required to remove viewers who express unacceptable behavior, including video tapings that now circulate about news articles from online social media networks. On the more positive end, the film has proven to be incredibly successful by having grossed $185 million domestically and $380 million globally and is classified as being PG with no means of inappropriate language or behavior, making it for all ages ranging from elementary students all the way to senior citizens.