After young moviegoers caused an "unfortunate situation" as part of a disruptive and chaotic "chicken jockey" trend during a screening of "A Minecraft Movie," a New Jersey movie theater has banned children from seeing the film without an adult.
Township Theatre in Washington Township announced Saturday that all minors who want to see the movie must have a parent or an adult with them after an incident Friday night involving a group of unsupervised boys who “engaged in completely unacceptable behavior, including vandalism.”
The theater said the behavior resulted in multiple complaints. It warned that “unaccompanied groups of boys will not be admitted.”
“If your son was at Township Theatre last night, we strongly encourage you to have a conversation with him about his behavior. Thank you for helping us maintain a safe, respectful, and enjoyable environment for all of our guests,” the theater said on Facebook.
“A Minecraft Movie,” based on the wildly popular video game, opened in theaters Friday and stars Jack Black and Jason Momoa.
Videos have emerged from theaters across the country showing moviegoers acting frenzied and wild when Black's character says the phrase “chicken jockey” in a boxing ring.
"Chicken jockey" refers to a Minecraft zombie character riding a chicken like a horse.
In the clips, moviegoers are heard screaming “chicken jockey,” cheering, jumping out of their seats and throwing popcorn, and in some cases young boys were escorted out of theaters.
A Cineworld theater in Whitney, England, posted a warning that moviegoers will be kicked out without a refund if they disturb the film screening, the BBC reported.
“To make sure everyone has a blast, we ask that all cinemagoers respect cinema etiquette. For fans wanting to whoop, yelp and clap their way through this block-busting adventure, we have created special Chicken Jockey 4DX screenings at Cineworld cinemas nationwide,” Cineworld to the BBC.
The hit blockbuster recorded a $301 million global opening with $144.1 million from the international box office, Deadline reported.