'Gentleminions': Why TikTok teens are wearing suits to 'Minions: The Rise of Gru'

If you spot a Gentleminion at a viewing of "Minions," don't panic -- they're typically harmless, if obsessed with the little yellow menaces. Here's how the odd trend came to be -- and how teenage boys on TikTok became the Minions' biggest fans.

For all its success in drawing audiences back to theaters, distributor Universal Pictures has, at least partially, the "Gentleminions" to thank.

Gentleminions are young people who film themselves dressed in formalwear, flooding unsuspecting movie theaters to see the newest "Minions" flick and hollering at the screen like they're lining the ring at Wrestlemania. TikTok teens are arguably not the audience Illumination had in mind when concocting the latest slapstick-heavy animated children's film, but they've turned out in droves anyway thanks to the viral trend -- the hashtag #Gentleminions has over 22 million views and counting on the platform.