‘Chicken jockey’ trend hits some movie theatres in Canada

A popular scene from A Minecraft Movie features a Minecraft creature riding a chicken, dubbed 'chicken jockey.' (Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)

Some Minecraft fans in Canada are going wild over the “chicken jockey” trend while watching the new blockbuster movie.

Fans of the popular Minecraft video game have flocked to see “A Minecraft Movie.”

The Warner Bros. film earned US$163 million in the United States and Canada, US$150.7 million overseas and US$313.7 million worldwide, Deadline.com reported on April 7. It was the biggest opening weekend of 2025 in the U.S.

The popular scene features a Minecraft creature riding a chicken, dubbed “chicken jockey.”

Videos of moviegoers going wild during the “chicken jockey” scene have attracted millions of views on TikTok and other social media platforms. Video clips, many from the U.S., show people shouting, clapping and throwing buckets of popcorn. In one video, an individual was seen sitting on someone’s shoulders while he carried a live chicken.

Police were also reportedly called in some cases.

‘Chicken jockey’ trend causes ‘grief’

Several Canadian movie theatre companies told CTVNews.ca they saw similar scenes of enthusiastic Minecraft fans, though there were no serious cases involving police.

Jeff Knoll, CEO of Film.ca Cinemas, which operates three independent movie theatres in Ontario, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Thursday that in a few cases, his staff had to ask the “disrespectful” people to leave for disturbing others during the movie. Film.ca also had to apologize and issue refunds to some angry moviegoers since “A Minecraft Movie” opened last week.

Knoll says incidents usually happened during the late-night shows when there were more teens.

“They are upsetting our customers who are there just to watch the movie,” Knoll said, adding that some youth lacked theatre etiquette when they recited lines from the movie, as well as flung popcorn and even entire drinks towards the screen.

In one instance, Knoll says an entire row of youth stood up and gave a standing ovation during the “chicken jockey” scene, blocking the view of others seated behind them.

He likened the “chicken jockey” trend to what happens when people watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In the case of the 1975 cult classic, the audience is encouraged to bring props and use them during certain scenes.

While the “chicken jockey” trend is fun for Minecraft fans, it can be “annoying,” “frustrating,” “disruptive” and cause “grief” for other guests and his staff, he said.

Knoll’s staff explained to youth that they should not disturb the audience and in a few cases, asked them to leave the theatre, though it “hasn’t gotten ridiculously out of hand,” he said. He is preparing a video, which will be shown before the movie, reminding the audience to be respectful.

‘Little too crazy’

Alberta-based Okotoks Cinemas says it saw moviegoers get a “little too crazy” at times. As a result, the independent movie theatre put up signs and aired a preshow video warning for viewers that they would be immediately ejected if they threw soft drinks, popcorn and other items at the screen.

“Minecraft was crazy this weekend!” the theatre wrote in a Facebook post on April 7. “We want you to be able to yell ‘chicken jockey’ at the appropriate time because it IS (super) fun, but we will also be scheduling specific noise-free showtimes as well so everyone can enjoy the movie in their own way.”

Lindsey Fiebig commented on the post, saying it was funny to see a group of teens yell certain lines from the movie when she went to see it Saturday, though she didn’t see them throw popcorn or drinks.

Fiebig wrote that “it was seriously the highlight of the movie and made us all laugh!”

Meanwhile, Kelsey McLeay said she and her four- and six-year-olds were clueless about the TikTok trend when they went to see the movie Friday night.

While the show of excitement was all in good fun, some people weren’t happy about it.

“Trend or not, why would you ever throw your stuff at the screen?! So disrespectful!!,” wrote another commenter Megan Lea.

Jamin Melanson, a manager who works at The Amherst Theatre in Amherst, N.S., says that viewers haven’t been throwing popcorn as much since he began making announcements before the film, reminding people not to litter and asking them to help clean up any messes they make.

“They’ve been clapping and cheering during parts of the movie – people are enjoying it,” Melanson said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca on Thursday. “There was a bit of a mess the other night, but it wasn’t anything dramatic.”

The Amherst Theatre is only showing “A Minecraft Movie” on one of its three screens, Melanson says. Nearly 100 seats out of 220 have been sold for each show so far since it opened last Friday.

“It’s just been exciting with people coming out in droves,” he said.

A spokesperson for Calgary-based Landmark Cinemas says the movie theatre chain has also seen “disruptions” in some locations, with people tossing food and drinks and shouting during the movie since its opening weekend.

When asked whether the “chicken jockey” trend was happening at Cineplex’s theatres, the movie giant didn’t provide a direct answer, though it suggested that there was a problem.

“With major blockbuster releases, at times movie excitement can turn into disruptive behaviour, which our team does their best to resolve in the moment,” Michelle Saba, vice-president of communications, wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Thursday.

“As always, we want to ensure moviegoing is fun for everyone and ask our guests to abide by our code of conduct which is posted on our website and in our venues.”

With files from CNN