"A Minecraft Movie" brings chicken jockey chaos to Utah theaters
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A poster for "A Minecraft Movie" in West Hollywood. Photo: AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
"A Minecraft Movie" has brought chicken jockey chaos to Utah, with a moviegoer in Provo sneaking a live chicken into a screening.
The big picture: As audiences stampede to the biggest box office hit of the year (so far), one scene is prompting near-riots, per now-viral videos of audiences screaming, throwing food and drinks, removing clothing and chicken-fighting in front of the big screen.
Friction point: A Provo theater stopped the projector and hit the lights last week when a patron brought a live chicken and held it aloft as other fans shot confetti guns and threw popcorn around it, footage shows.
- Video from Heber City shows a similar eruption in the crowd.
How it works: Audiences have been chanting and cheering along with their favorite characters throughout the movie, but the biggest reaction is generally reserved for when Jack Black shouts the line, "Chicken jockey!"
The latest: Some theaters around the country are playing warnings and requiring adults to accompany kids . Others have set up special screenings for audience participation.
- Larry H. Miller Megaplex Theatres, for example, have hired extra security and play a message that reads: "We are aware of the TikTok trends associated with A Mincecraft Movie. Please know that those who disrupt our guests and damage our theater will be escorted out of the theater immediately by police. We will press charges for any damage to our property."
- Director Jared Hess has said he enjoyed the enthusiasm; Black attended a screening and told the audience not to throw popcorn, the publication Hollywood Handle posted on X.
Catch up quick: Utah has a number of ties to the movie.
- Hess lives in Draper and attended BYU, where he first developed 2004's "Napoleon Dynamite" as a student project.
- Screenwriter Hubbel Palmer is a professor at the University of Utah.
- In the film, actor Jason Momoa wears sunglasses by the SLC brand Pit Viper, Town Lift News reported.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comments for Larry H. Miller Megaplex Theatres.