As the movie calendar continues its concentration on a handful of major releases, exhibitors are trying to find new ways to maximize revenue from those events. One area where they’ve found some success is selling moviegoers special merchandise, an example being the “Sandworm” Popcorn Bucket for this weekend’s release of DUNE 2. AMC teamed up with Warner Bros. to produce popcorn buckets inspired by the gobbling Sandworm creature from the movie. A bucket costs $24.99, with many moviegoers purchasing it as a collectible to commemorate the event.
Elaborate popcorn buckets date back to 2019, when AMC teamed up with Disney to create a popcorn bucket in the image of R2-D2, sold at the release of STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. Despite a steep price of $49.99, the exhibitor did a brisk business with these droid buckets.
Inspired by this success, there have been a string of recent designs themed by FAST X, BARBIE, WONKA, and MEAN GIRLS to name a few. While sales figures are not publicly available, the prevalence of these products suggests that they have been a hit with moviegoers and profitable for exhibitors. With attendance drifting down over time, it’s an interesting approach to maximizing the spend of moviegoers when they do come out to enjoy a special event.
See also: The ‘Dune’ Popcorn Bucket and the Golden Age of Movie Merch (NY Times)