Popcorn bucket boom turns movie snacks into $80 collectibles

Popcorn buckets have moved beyond the concession counter into collectible status—driven by blockbuster fandom, licensing strategy, and viral designs—pushing prices from basic pails to items that can cost $80 or more and resell for far higher on the secondary m

For years, moviegoers reached into a paper tub without thinking twice. Now, the hands-in-mouth moment has become the whole point—whether it’s sliding popcorn out of a sandworm, pulling it from Wolverine’s face, or chasing a glowing gadget handle like it’s the main attraction.

The shift is visible in what theaters sell and how fans talk about it. Gone are the days of a basic pail. Popcorn buckets tied to blockbuster releases have become viral collectibles, with some designs priced well above the snack itself—and, in a few cases, flipped into higher-priced items on eBay.

The frenzy is often traced back to “Dune Part Two. ” when a sandworm bucket released in 2024 quickly went viral for a design that was described as “not-safe-for-work suggestiveness.” The popcorn pail was topped with a replica of the giant sandworms of planet Arrakis. Customers reached their hands through the sandworm’s teeth to dish out popcorn from inside.

AMC then leaned into the meme energy. In the months after “Dune Part Two. ” Ryan Reynolds collaborated with AMC to release a popcorn bucket for “Deadpool and Wolverine.” The bucket was shaped like Wolverine’s head and included a wide gaping mouth designed to hold popcorn. Reynolds said: “Years from now they will look back at 2024 as the year the War of the Popcorn Buckets began.”.

Other releases pushed the concept into new pricing tiers. For “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” there was an $80 LED Galactus bucket. For “Freakier Friday,” a $20 swappable popcorn bucket and cup was released in July 2025. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema offered a $45 exclusive Godzilla head bucket that sold out in December 2025. and “The Devil Wears Prada 2” came with a $40 bright red handbag-style bucket in May.

The market doesn’t stop at the theater counter. The original “Dune Part Two” bucket, sold by AMC Theatres for $25, has been listed for up to $185 on sites like eBay.

The secondary pricing can be dramatic even when theaters set limits. On the AMC website, the newly sold-out “Toy Story 5” Buzz Lightyear Space Ship Popcorn Bucket cost $47, with customers limited to three buckets per order. On eBay, the bucket was selling for $65 to $110.

The appeal is easy to grasp from the consumer side, but the economics are more complicated once the designs move from novelty into manufacturing and licensing.

“They are the physical manifestation of a memory. These are the concert T-shirts of moviegoing,” AMC Theatres Vice President of Food and Beverage Product Strategy Nels Storm said.

Storm also tied the buckets to a broader premiere-weekend routine: moviegoers grab tickets and pair them with merchandise tied to the release. A Star Wars content creator known online as The Jedi Collector. Jonathan Jovel. said the moment belongs to collectors and people who want to be part of what’s trending.

Jovel said he once spent nearly $200 on popcorn buckets for a single movie. “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” He also described spending across themed items tied to other locations and releases: $75 on Regal’s popcorn bucket. $40 for a Grogu bucket. $30 for a square tin box and keychain set. and $30 for Disneyland’s BDX Droid bucket.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s CMO Chaya Rosenthal described a different starting point. Alamo initially believed popcorn buckets were “merely a fad. ” especially after building its own merchandise ecosystem through its pop culture boutique Mondo—now owned by Funko—going back to 2004. But as buckets kept drawing attention, Alamo “decided to hop on the bandwagon,” Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal said Alamo has seen success especially around anniversary titles. She also pointed to the timing effect: when people can stream at home, limited-edition merchandise gives them a reason to come into the theater.

Licensing plays a major role too. Rosenthal said theaters may find it easier to access distinct intellectual property (IP) through categories tied to “concessions.” She explained that concessions can provide a different consumer product category than what might be used for figurines—an approach that can make studio access more feasible when the merchandise is built as part of concessions rather than a mass consumer product.

Storm and Rosenthal also described how the licensing rhythm works. They said action-figure style products often depend on long-term licensing and mass marketing investments. while concessions rely on rapid. short-term licensing. The theater window to market and sell an item like a popcorn bucket can be limited.

From there, the timeline gets tight. From initial sketches to having a finished bucket in customers’ hands, the development process can take anywhere from 4 to 12 months.

Storm said conversations about AMC’s “Toy Story 5” Buzz Lightyear Space Ship Popcorn Bucket began in June 2025—one year before the film’s release. He described the early phase as a licensing and manufacturer matchmaking process: talks begin around who holds the license. then manufacturers reach out to studios to gather licenses and come back with a proposal to discuss “vessels.”.

Manufacturers then move into product ideation, which can take four to five months for a year-long project. Storm said manufacturers and theater companies are often given a “sneak peek” of film plot points to help them predict what merchandise could succeed.

During that stage, leak prevention becomes part of the job. Storm and Bill Howard, CEO of Snap Creative, said there have been times when a manufacturer was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in order to read a movie script in advance.

For “Toy Story 5,” Storm said AMC and the manufacturer had to get a greenlight from Disney before the Buzz Lightyear bucket could be created, which is common when working with bigger studios.

Howard described the manufacturer work as more than design—it includes tooling, painting, packaging, and shipping. The manufacturing step includes finalizing tooling. designing and manufacturing the parts of a popcorn bucket. and then shipping the product to theater companies for marketing and eventual sale both online and in theaters.

Storm put it bluntly: “It’s innovative every time.” He said every new vessel is the first time it has been developed, and that means new work each time, including how it’s tooled, painted, packaged, and shipped.

All of that effort is tied to a financial question theater operators still try to answer: do elaborate popcorn buckets truly add money?

Storm said the buckets are making theater companies money, though the exact profit picture appears to vary. Over the past few years. AMC has seen steady growth in its collectible merchandise sales—collectible merchandise that includes all marketed products. not only popcorn buckets. Storm said AMC’s collectible merchandise grossed $54 million in the United States in 2023. In 2025. he said collectible merchandise made the company nearly $80 million globally. and AMC could exceed $100 million globally for collectible merchandise going forward.

In the pricing itself, theaters appear to be charging more as the pails get more elaborate. The “Dune Part Two” sandworm bucket was $25. AMC’s “Toy Story 5” Buzz Lightyear bucket was $47. Storm said the “Toy Story” bucket includes a removable Buzz Lightyear figurine. Regal’s $75 “The Mandalorian and Grogu” bucket offered even more, with both music and light elements.

For comparison, Storm pointed to AMC’s own snack pricing: a standard large popcorn at AMC can cost around $11 when placing an express pickup order.

Rosenthal said Alamo’s economics are different. She said popcorn buckets aren’t “game-changing profitable.” “It is helpful from a revenue standpoint. but it’s not noticeable when you’re talking about … the financial statement of a theater,” Rosenthal said. “It’s not a big shocking number by any means.”.

Where the two executives agreed was on the effect on attendance—though they offered no hard numbers. Storm and Rosenthal said popcorn buckets appear. anecdotally. to bring more patrons into theaters. even as attendance has been declining since the COVID-19 pandemic and streaming platforms have made it easier to watch at home.

But there’s another side to the story: the collections can also become dead inventory.

Storm said planning a product so far in advance creates risk—especially if it doesn’t connect with consumers. Sometimes, he said, the risk doesn’t pay off.

Jovel described what that looks like from the collector’s perspective. When he went to watch “Toy Story 5” at his local Regal on June 19. he said the merchandise shelves were full of extra “Masters of the Universe” and BTS World Tour “ARIRANG” popcorn buckets. He said a theater lobby can sometimes feel like a “graveyard” for unwanted merchandise.

With blockbuster releases continuing, the “war” over buckets doesn’t appear to be cooling.

The most recently viral collectible. according to the current lineup. was Cinemark’s popcorn bucket and drink cup for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day. ” which hits theaters on July 31. The combo container features Spider-Man’s iconic hand gesture, with his web-shooter coming from the wrist. Some fans think the translucent design looks less like webbing and more like a not-safe-for-work liquid.

AMC’s upcoming offerings have also drawn attention. An IMAX camera-shaped popcorn bucket for the release of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has gained traction. Rosenthal said the director himself was impressed by the design. The bucket is available for $50 before it sold out, and it features a light-up viewfinder with stills from the movie.

The industry’s next question is whether the trend can keep turning memories into margins without leaving theaters stuck with the wrong version of the hype.

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.

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