What started as an accidental viral punchline has turned into theater chains deliberately leaning into the joke.
This latest wave of Popcorn Buckets prove that movie merch isn’t pretending to be subtle anymore.
Let’s be honest: theater popcorn buckets are getting completely out of hand. There’s definite innuendo happening here, and it caught pretty much everyone off guard when the first viral Dune bucket dropped for Dune: Part Two. That original sandworm (called Shai-Hulud) container looked an awful lot like a flashlight; let’s just call it what it was. At the time, I didn’t think the design was intentional. But with this latest wave, revealed by AMC on October 29, 2026. It’s clear that AMC knows the joke exists, and they’ve decided to lean all the way into it.
Leaning Directly Into the Joke
These new collectibles arrive December 17, 2026 at AMC in the United States, ahead of the film opening December 18, 2026. AMC hasn’t announced a price for the new items yet, but the lineup itself is already turning heads.
The Double Sandworm is one tub with two sculpted sandworm mouths on top, so two people can easily share a bucket of popcorn from separate entrances. It’s the perfect date night share because two separate chambers, reach into the exact same batch of popcorn through your own sandworm openings. If you thought reaching into one sandworm mouth was awkward enough, now you and a friend can do it simultaneously from opposite sides.
Then there’s the Sandworm Thumper. The Sandworm Thumper is a cup with a single sandworm opening and a small working thumper detail alongside it, which moves up and down. Having a working Fremen thumper detail on a collectible cup shows just how far AMC Theaters is willing to push these popcorn buckets.
Theater Exclusives and the Concession Stand Arms Race
Other chains have their own exclusives. Regal has a “Dune Spacing Guild Navigator Popcorn Bucket” arriving in December, and Cinemark has a “Copper Sandworm” bucket listed as coming soon. Check your local chain, because these designs aren’t shared across all theaters.
So what’s driving this trend? Well, theaters keep far more of each concession dollar than the money from ticket sales. This is why a viral popcorn bucket isn’t just a joke, it’s a high margin profit strategy that may save theaters.
Popcorn buckets used to be cheap tubs you tossed in the recycling bin on your way out the door. Now they’re viral collectibles engineered to break the internet before the film even premieres. They’re absolutely ridiculous, but they’ve also turned concessions into the new eBay scalper’s profit machine and an arms race of absurd designs.
What’s your take on this latest batch? Are you picking one of these up on opening night, or has the whole gimmick gone too far? Drop your thoughts below.