Teen moviegoers are getting rowdy in theaters — and it’s all thanks to A Minecraft Movie. The Jason Momoa and Jack Black-led film based on Mojang Studios’ beloved 2011 video game Minecraft opened on April 4 and has skyrocketed to the top of the box office.
The adventure film follows a ragtag group of friends (Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen) who are transported to a cubic wonderland. To get back home, they must learn the inner workings of the world and complete a side quest with a master crafter named Steve (Black).
Earning $163 million in both the U.S. and Canada, and $313.7 million worldwide, A Minecraft Movie is the third-biggest opening of all time for Warner Bros., the distributor of the film. Also the biggest opening for a video game feature ever, the film has been credited with “putting moviegoing back on track,” per Deadline. Why the movie is so successful is perhaps due in part to the now viral “chicken jockey” scene.
“We made the movie for the fans and the fans exceeded our expectations,” Michael DeLuca, co-chair and CEO of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, told the Associated Press.
The X account for DiscussingFilm.net shared a 46-second clip showing the lively reaction from audiences at a screening of A Minecraft Movie. The footage, posted on April 6, shows several kids jumping out of their seats and throwing popcorn in the air as Black’s character, Steve, says, “Chicken jockey.” Black says the line after seeing a baby zombie descend onto the back of a Minecraft chicken in a boxing ring. In the Minecraft game, chicken jockeys are child zombies that ride chickens.
The clip then cuts to some of the kids being escorted out of the theater by police. As they’re walking up the aisle toward the exit, other moviegoers, likely teens as well, are recording the moment on their cellphones. They’re also singing lyrics from the 1969 song “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” by the band Steam.
The phrase “chicken jockey” has taken on a life of its own, going viral on social media platforms like TikTok, as young audiences continue to flock to movie theaters in hopes of witnessing the pandemonium in person. The moment, per TikTok, appears to play out similarly across the country and beyond: Black says, “Chicken jockey” and the crowd goes wild.
An account with the handle The Kino Corner declared on X that seeing A Minecraft Movie was “the wildest theater experience of my life.” The X user saw the film at the Barton Creek Square AMC theaters in Austin, Texas. His post has over 210,000 likes.
“Most of the audience were middle schoolers and they would clap and hoot and holler whenever one of the meme lines was said or when they recognized something from the game,” he wrote. “They acted like this wasn’t a movie, but a rock concert. It was a complete expression of a mix of genuine love for minecraft and irony poisoning and the result was pure chaos for 100 or so minutes.”
A Minecraft Movie is also being referred to as “the gamer version” of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. A cult classic, the campy 1975 musical is famously known for encouraging audience participation, like dressing up, dancing, shouting and “shadow casts” of fans acting out the film in its entirety.
While the police haven’t intervened in every instance, People reported that movie theaters are cautioning audiences against participating in “disruptive behavior” at screenings of A Minecraft Movie.
“We’ve been informed of reports of an online trend that includes making excessive noise during A Minecraft Movie,” a now deleted Instagram post by Cineworld on Renfrew Street in Glasgow, Scotland, read, per People. “We would like to remind everyone to please be respectful to those around them by not making noise nor being on their phones during any movie. Failure to do so may result in ejection from the cinema.”
Not everyone is upset by the way teens are reacting to the film. Online, people are coming to the defense of young theatergoers supposedly wreaking havoc during screenings of A Minecraft Movie.
One X user wrote, “It’s a kid movie, fully expect this type of enjoyment and response from them.” Another wrote, “That’s the whole reason they’re seeing the movie. I get that silence is golden, but this is an exception and should be treated that way.”
Whether the intensity that young audiences are bringing to screenings of A Minecraft Movie should be criticized or celebrated remains up for debate. But more than anything, the film appears to be a joyous experience for members of the Minecraft fandom.
