Someone Just Sang “Bohemian Rhapsody” in Minionese at a Film Premiere — and the Internet Is Obsessed

There are film premieres, and then there are film premieres that produce a moment so perfectly on-brand that it immediately takes over the internet. The promotional rollout for Illumination’s ‘Minions and Monsters‘ has delivered exactly that kind of moment, and it involves Queen, yellow creatures, and a very committed singer.

‘Minions and Monsters’ is the third prequel in the Minions spin-off franchise and the seventh installment in the broader Despicable Me universe.

Set in 1920 and taking place 48 years before the events of the original ‘Minions’ film, the story follows the beloved yellow creatures as they attempt to make their own monster movie in Old Hollywood, accidentally summoning real monsters in the process. It is a premise that has generated strong early critical praise, and the promotional campaign has been keeping pace with the film’s chaotic energy at every turn.

At the film’s premiere event, a woman took to the stage and performed a version of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” entirely in Minionese, the gibberish language spoken by the characters throughout the franchise.

The clip racked up 3.4 million views within hours of being posted, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of likes and thousands of comments. The video shows two women on a stage set against what appears to be Minion-themed backdrop, the kind of theatrical premiere environment that lends the performance an almost surreal quality.

It is the kind of moment that money cannot fully manufacture. A genuine performance in an invented language, drawing on one of the most recognisable songs ever recorded, and landing with an audience that clearly knows exactly what it is watching. The clip spread with the velocity of something that people had to show someone else immediately.

The film is directed by Pierre Coffin, who also voices the Minions, and written by Coffin alongside Brian Lynch. The voice cast includes Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeff Bridges, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, Trey Parker, and Phil LaMarr, with filmmaker George Lucas also revealed to have a role after being approached by producer Chris Meledandri due to his well-known affection for the franchise.

‘Minions and Monsters’ premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 21, 2026, before its wide theatrical release in the United States on July 1 by Universal Pictures. Early screenings for Xfinity and Fandango members were also scheduled for June 29, giving the promotional campaign a sustained build across the final days before release.

The Minionese “Bohemian Rhapsody” moment fits neatly into what critics have been saying about the film itself. Early responses have been notably warmer than many expected for a seventh entry in a franchise. Writing for Variety, Guy Lodge described the film as “smarter, wilder and funnier,” calling it “fully, madly moviosa” and “mostly delightful,” while noting it represents a genuine creative peak for the franchise, praising the idea at its core and the film’s affectionate references to classic Hollywood cinema.

CinemaBlend reported that critics have been reaching for phrases like “creative high” and “peak for the series” in their assessments, with one reviewer calling it her favourite of the solo Minions films. For a seventh installment, that kind of reception is genuinely remarkable.

The “Bohemian Rhapsody” connection is not entirely coincidental. The song has had a recurring relationship with animated comedy going back years, and the idea of a nonsense language applied to one of rock music’s most dramatic and beloved compositions is an inspired piece of promotion. The fact that Minionese exists as a distinct, recognisable language only amplifies the joke. Anyone who has ever spent time around the franchise knows what Minionese sounds like, and the gap between those sounds and the grandeur of Queen’s composition is exactly what makes the clip impossible not to share.

‘Minions and Monsters’ is scheduled to stream on Peacock for the first four months of its pay-TV window following its theatrical run, before moving to Netflix for the subsequent ten months. But right now, the Minions are doing what they have always done best, which is commandeering the cultural conversation without anyone quite being able to explain how.

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