Movies

Dune 2’s Notorious $800 Popcorn Buckets Horrified the Cast: ‘That’s Not Okay!’

Dune 2’s Notorious $800 Popcorn Buckets Horrified the Cast: ‘That’s Not Okay!’
Image credit: Warner Bros, @3CFilmss (X)

The sandworm popcorn buckets are going viral and pricy, but that wasn’t the idea.

Summary:

  • To commemorate Dune 2’s release, AMC theaters released limited-edition sandworm popcorn buckets.
  • The collectible items were soon sold out and are now being resold for $800 against the original $25.
  • The shape of the buckets stirred up countless inappropriate jokes online, and even Dune 2’s stars and director acknowledged the issue.

After the overwhelming success of the first Dune movie, it was only a matter of time until Dune 2 would come around to shatter its record. With millions of people eagerly awaiting the sequel, it was set for a great run — and to make it more fun, the AMC theaters decided to sell some thematic items. Their sandworm popcorn bucket became a hit immediately and were sold out… Only to be resold later.

Dune 2’s Popcorn Buckets Are Going Wild

The main issue with all exclusive stuff? The people who really want it often can’t get it directly, and those who can are mostly greedy resellers. Dune 2’s sandworm popcorn buckets look amazing and make for a fantastic souvenir, but unless you managed to get one on the first day, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise.

AMC sold the exclusive buckets for the pricey but lowkey reasonable $25, but that didn’t last long: today, resellers are offering those same buckets on eBay for $800 and more.

That’s x32 to the original price, and people are genuinely buying them — they loved Dune 2 and want something unique to commemorate it, and the monopoly on sandworm popcorn buckets made them a rare artifact to have.

Dune 2 Stars Are Shocked by the Collectible Buckets

Bizarre prices aside, there’s another issue with the sandworm buckets: their shape. The buckets have already birthed one too many inappropriate jokes online and on TV, and even the stars of Dune 2 didn’t like them. Zendaya and Timothée Shalamet refused them, and Florence Pugh reacted with “That's not okay. That's wrong.”

“I don’t want to make stupid jokes right now that will I regret tomorrow morning, but I will say this. When I saw [those buckets], I went, ‘Hoooly smokes.’ What the f*ck!? [The buckets] created a lot of fun online. So maybe it’s positive? It’s some kind of… Impressive design,” director Denis Villeneuve told The New York Times.

In this whole situation, between raunchy jokes and ridiculous reselling prices, we only have one question about the notorious Dune 2 popcorn buckets: are their creators currently ashamed or proud of themselves?

Sources: People, The New York Times