Can we say something about the Dune 2 popcorn bucket without everyone getting mad?
AMC's viral sandworm-shaped popcorn bucket for Dune 2 sure is, uh, something
Over the years, stan armies have invented many new ways to show love to their favorite movies that go far beyond just buying tickets or slapping a shiny poster on the wall. You can give the film five stars on Letterboxd (or review it on Facebook after popping an ambien). You can make so much noise over its perceived “snub” at the Oscars that a former presidential candidate gets involved. You can buy a candle that smells like its most infamous (derogatory) scene. And now, thanks to AMC theaters, you can put your hand or… something into whatever the hell this thing is. Behold: the Dune: Part Two promotional popcorn bucket.
Please take all the time you need to process. Finished? The internet sure isn’t. Ever since the bucket—modeled to look like the gaping maw of one of the monstrous sandworms that populate the planet Arrakis—first made itself known to the good citizens of X (née Twitter), Dune lovers and haters alike have gleefully expressed their absolute awe at the thing. They’ve also, as the internet and, well, anyone with eyes is wont to do, pointed out that it looks a lot like a whole different type of Gom Jabbar test. Put another way, people want to fuck the popcorn bucket. We’ll let them tell you all about it in their own words:
God, remember when a promotional popcorn bucket was just, like, a picture of Chris Pratt and some dinosaurs on a cardboard bowl? Thank god we don’t have to live in that lame theater-going era anymore! AMC has really capitalized on people’s desire for increasingly outlandish collectibles, as evidenced by multiple four-plus hour lines to score similar vessels at Disney World recently, with their own exclusive merch. There was Barbie’s pink Corvette bowl, now priced as high as $99.99 on eBay, as well as a 20-sided die for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and a light-up Ant-Man helmet for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which definitely didn’t distract from the movie-going experience at all. Recently, the chain even released a Mean Girls tin that looked like it could double as a vessel for a different kind of substance as well.
What could they possibly dream up next? A man in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died for Madame Web? A cat backpack that’s also maybe Taylor Swift for Argylle? We’re not sure the world is ready, but we can’t wait to find out.