The director of the new Minecraft movie has said “it’s weird” that the police are being called to rowdy screenings of the film.

Director Jared Hess responded after reports emerged of “rowdy screenings” after the film sparked a viral trend in which people scream and throw popcorn during key moments of the movie.

In response, many cinemas have issued warnings against the behaviour and in some cases, as per Variety, ended up notifying the police.

In the UK, Cineworld has told fans that anyone taking part and disturbing others will be removed without a refund – though they are hosting screenings where shouting and screaming is permitted on Sunday (April 13) – while the REEL Cinema in Rochdale has, per Manchester Evening News, warned that it will be “increasing our monitoring of screens” and that “police will be called” if necessary.

Speaking about the incidents to Entertainment Weekly, Hess said: “It’s weird when you’re having too much fun and the cops get called. It’s funny because I think it’s just literally cheering and throwing popcorn, which is so funny to me that cops are getting called for popcorn. Yeah, it’s hilarious. I’ve seen so many funny videos. It’s great, especially when people are climbing on their friends’ shoulders and standing up and cheering for those moments. It’s like this crazy anticipation. But, man, I’m just glad people are making memories with their friends and families.”

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He continued: “I’m just so happy that people are finding joy in going back to cinemas and seeing things as a community, as a group of people. It’s like we’ve become so isolated on our devices, and it’s just fun to experience things as a group of human beings. I think people are starved for that experience. So it’s fun that they’ve found it in this goofy movie that we’ve made.”

Meanwhile, Jack Black, who stars in the movie as Steve, reportedly turned up at a cinema screening this week to warn against the rowdy behaviour – most of which emerges after his character says “chicken jockey”. The phrase “chicken jockey” appears just before Garrett ‘The Garbage Man’ Garrison, played by Jason Momoa, fights a child zombie who’s riding a chicken; in other words, a “chicken jockey”.

Black’s Steve then uses the phrase, at which point some teenage viewers descend into a frenzy, many throwing popcorn and drinks and shouting and yelling, disturbing cinema goers.

As per Variety, Black showed up before a screening humorously shouted: “No throwing popcorn! And absolutely no chicken jockeys!” After he made himself known to the audience, he received a huge applause “Oh yeah! I am Steve. Are you ready to rock? Ladies and gentleman please enjoy, ‘A Minecraft Movie.’ Roll the projector!”

The movie set a box office record when it opened last week to $313 million (£237 million) making it the highest debut for a video game themed movie yet. The film also stars Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen and is based on the popular video game of the same name, which comes from Mojang Studios.

Despite the high viewing figures, the film has had a mixed response from critics so far. NME gave it a two-star review, writing: “Unfortunately, A Minecraft Movie feels more like an advert for the game rather than a celebration of what makes it great. There is just enough in the brisk 101-minute runtime to inspire newcomers to check out The Overworld for themselves but you’d think a film about the awesome power of creativity would be a bit more innovative.”