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In recent years, collectible popcorn buckets have become the go-to promotional item for movies hoping to make a splash at the theater. The movie popcorn bucket trend is so popular that every major studio in Hollywood is getting in on it. From Sony’s Ghostbusters offerings to Warner Bros. Godzilla X Kong bucket, souvenir snack receptacles are a hot commodity, so we’re rounding up AMC popcorn buckets from 2024.
There were so many collectible buckets this year alone that we created an overview of movie popcorn buckets released in 2024 from across AMC, Cinemark, and Regal. The popcorn bucket trend is so big it’s not just found at movie theaters but in the world of theme parks too.
Disney Parks offer their own Disney popcorn buckets to celebrate notable occasions like Valentine’s Day and May the 4th. With all these fantastic buckets, there’s never been a better time to be a popcorn lover. The only question now is: butter or no butter?
AMC Popcorn Buckets
AMC Theatres is the movie theater chain responsible for kicking off this modern trend of collectible movie popcorn buckets. In 2019, AMC and Disney joined forces to produce an R2-D2-themed popcorn bucket to promote Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The $50 collectible functioned as a combination popcorn and drink holder that proved so successful that it almost singlehandedly started the novelty popcorn holder craze. Plus, it’s coming back in 2024 for the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
In the five years since kicking things off with R-2, AMC has continued offering unique movie-themed popcorn buckets, each more successful than the one before it. Last year, prior to the release of Barbie, AMC CEO Adam Aron correctly predicted that the theater chain would sell out of its special edition Barbie popcorn buckets by the end of the movie’s opening weekend.
Sure enough, when the film was released, AMC sold its entire stock of 25,000 pink Corvette-shaped Barbie popcorn buckets at $34.99 a pop, netting the chain almost $1 million in revenue. With an exciting slate of new collectibles based on popular fandoms like Dune and Ghostbusters, AMC is poised to have its best year yet when it comes to movie popcorn buckets!
Mean Girls Burn Book Popcorn Bucket
AMC’s Mean Girls popcorn bucket is totally fetch! It’s only fitting that a new spin on the traditional popcorn bucket would accompany a new musical spin on the classic Mean Girls story. AMC’s collectible Burn Book popcorn tin is shaped like the infamous book from Mean Girls, but that’s where the similarities end.
While the real Burn Book was full of nasty insults the Plastics wrote about their fellow students, the Burn Book popcorn bucket is filled with nothing but delicious golden popcorn. When the popcorn is gone, the Burn Book tin with its closable lid becomes the ideal place to store your knick-knacks…or, if you’re Glen Coco, your candy cane grams. You go, Glen Coco.
Release Date: January 2024
Dune 2 Sandworm Popcorn Bucket
You know a design has problems when SNL turns its attention from politicians to popcorn buckets. AMC’s Dune 2 popcorn bucket caused a collective side eye, and, practically speaking, eating out of it is impossible.
The design has two parts: a bucket and a plastic sandworm topper. The only way to get the popcorn out is to stick your hand in the viral bucket’s sandworm mouth, where a gaggle of little plastic teeth are waiting to knock the popcorn from your hand.
It’s not so bad if you like eating one kernel of popcorn at a time, but for those of us who prefer to eat our snacks by the fistful, the Dune 2 popcorn bucket is a bad choice.
Release Date: March 2024
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Slimer Popcorn Bucket
AMC’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire popcorn bucket is modeled after one of the franchise’s most lovable specters, Slimer. The AMC collectible comes in the shape of The Ghostbusters’ favorite little green pest. In the movies, Slimer is more than capable of stuffing his own face but only the Ghostbusters popcorn bucket from AMC gives fans a chance to do it for him.
Unfortunately, this bucket left a lot of fans miffed as what they ordered vs what they got ended up being two different things.
Release Date: March 2024
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Ghost Trap Popcorn Bucket
If the idea of sticking your hand in the mouth of a ravenous ghost doesn’t sound like your idea of fun, AMC has you covered. The theater chain’s second Frozen Empire-themed movie popcorn bucket is based on one of the Ghostbuster’s iconic ghost traps. Crafted to look exactly like one of the rectangular ghost receptacles the team has been using since the first Ghostbusters, AMC’s trap-shaped popcorn bucket looks so good that it could almost be a prop from the newest film.
What’s ingenious about this particular design is that the popcorn doesn’t go where you would expect it to. Instead of going inside the trap, it sits above it, nestled snuggly in a translucent pink plastic trapezoid.
Release Date: March 2024
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Totem Popcorn Bucket
Godzilla X Kong is the biggest cinematic throwdown of the year, and if you’re anything like us, you like both combatants too much to pick a side. Now, thanks to the AMC Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Totem popcorn bucket, you don’t have to.
The Godzilla x Kong bucket comes in two pieces—an orange one featuring Kong’s image and a blue one with Godzilla on the side. Both sections act as their own self-contained popcorn bucket, allowing you and a friend to share.
Going solo? The two halves of the Godzilla x Kong popcorn bucket snap together to form one big container with room for two separate snacks. Perfect for anyone who can’t decide between candy or popcorn. With this collectible movie popcorn bucket, you can have both at the same time!
Release Date: March 2024
