The Movie Industry Kept Trying to Make Popcorn Buckets Happen Again This Year

It’s been another year of popcorn bucket bonanza marketing mayhem, and it’s starting to feel like the gimmick is losing some steam, or maybe it just needs the heat cranked up on more corn kernels.

The popcorn bucket craze peaked, it now seems, back in 2024, when Dune: Part Two unleashed its viral sandworm, coaxing moviegoers into reaching their hands inside a dubious hole to grab the buttery goods within. An act so taken out of context thanks to its design, it ended up as a Saturday Night Live sketch.

This year, things may have reached overkill levels with the snackage package for the studio’s major releases. The year started off with an asterisk-decorated bucket for Thunderbolts* (aka The New Avengers) and a Red Guardian helmet, which were sorely unimpressive. We’ve done the helmet at this point to death, and nothing tops Wolverine’s Deadpool & Wolverine bucket head, except for Deadpool, maybe. Marvel Studios also released a Thunderbolts* bucket resembling the team’s getaway car, and we found ourselves asking, “Who are these all for?†Especially considering the movie didn’t have an iconoclastic character that we would want concession stand merch of in the first place.

Thankfully, once The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman blasted into theaters, things got entertaining again for a while.  The Fantastic Four really made some choices with the ginormous Galactus head popcorn bucket. That thing was a trophy, to be completely honest. Then there was also a HERBIE three-in-one bucket that brought the Richards family’s trusty robot to life to serve treats and drinks.

DC’s Superman opted for more fun event movie souvenir fare with probably the most practical of the popcorn bucket options—a tin Daily Planet newspaper rack you could open—a throwback to something you might’ve seen back in the days of print media—with a Superman story on the front and popcorn within.

Among the sheer volume of treat stand memorabilia that also included drink cups, straws, toys, and other accessories, those were the most memorable. By the end of the summer, if you visited a theater, it was overwhelming. There were even buckets for re-releases of movies, including Jaws and Back to the Future. We do love the Jaws mouth bucket, though; it’s got so many uses and may have held Thanksgiving napkins during last week’s holiday.

Speaking of holidays, theme parks really positioned themselves as the originators with their own clever kernel carrier exclusives. Robot Mickey Mouse beat HERBIE to the animatronic bucket punch with Disneyland’s release for the 70th anniversary, celebrating it like its own year-round holiday. There was also the epic Season of the Force Death Star light-up spherical popcorn orb that appealed even to those of us who thought we were done collecting.

Halloween Horror Nights even had a showstopper of its own, a popcorn bucket shaped like Santa Art the Clown from Terrifier 3, which worked for Halloween and still fits with the upcoming winter holidays at Universal Studios Parks.

Still, when you’re already paying admission to see a film, being bombarded with enticing and entertaining junk can feel like a financial sucker punch. The buckets have to be Dune: Part Two level good to tempt us these days, not to mention inspired in a way that fits the film’s marketing. Wicked toned it down for its sequel, and Disney came up with a few clever options for Zootopia 2. The Gary de Snake-wrapped one looks too cool and does its intended job (holding the darn popcorn).

We’re still a few big films out from the end of 2025 to see if concession stand toy stores will make a convincing final argument in favor of their continued existence. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 tie-ins really make it feel like we’re going to enter a Freddy Fazbear gift shop mad dash for exclusives. But even so, some of those designs feel less like foodie fun and more like action figures with extra plastic to cram in popcorn. (Though we are really excited for the unhinged Freddy Fazbear mask bucket that you can tear the face off and wear.)

And there’s, of course, the next Avatar movie; like Dune, Fire and Ash needs to mine its own bonkers mythology that we’re hoping captures the same inspired energy. We are begging them to do something with the Naa’vi tails that will please the fans and the internet… for reasons. So far it’s just a banshee basket, but our hope remains that the holidays will bestow us with one last freaky (popcorn) stand.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.