Pop Appeal

Wacky popcorn buckets have been creating a new revenue stream and source of hype for movie theater companies in 2024, Fast Company reported.

Called “collectible concession vessels” (CCVs) by industry professionals and costing theater goers up to $50, the new containers go beyond regular popcorn buckets with images on the side. They usually take the form of unhinged plastic sculptures, and have so far resembled anything from a Dune sandworm to Deadpool’s face or a demon-infested tombstone.

The current CCV trend emerged during an era when movie theaters were still struggling to reach pre-pandemic box office numbers. And when production delays from the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes continued to impact new releases.

While box office earnings of around $9 billion in 2023 were the highest since the pandemic, they were still roughly $2 billion short of pre-pandemic yearly sales, Fast Company noted.

And sales in 2024 were trailing 2023’s gains as of August. The dominance of streaming services, better in-home tech for movie viewing, and a cultural shift in viewing habits starting from the pandemic have all been blamed for this stagnation.

Overall, the collectible concession vessels would seem like a clear attempt to upsell to the traditional target audience of movie theater chains like AMC, Cinemark, and Regal of younger viewers ages 14 to 34.

So far the bucket designs have almost all come from the action, sci-fi, or superhero genres. Meanwhile, the most enthusiastic audience for new releases from those genres tends to be young adults ages 18 to 24.

The collectible popcorn buckets also seem custom-tailored for social media engagement. And specifically to encourage the sharing of photos, with all the free advertising and brand awareness that generates.

Furthermore, they also seem to fit right in with the toys and action figures, apparel, and other merchandising that now comes along with the release of big action, superhero, and sci-fi franchise titles.

According to the Fast Company article, movie theater chains don’t see the CCVs as a passing fad, either. Theaters reportedly consider them to be opening up a more immersive era of moviegoing in addition to new social media marketing opportunities.

AMC’s vice president of food & beverage strategy even told the magazine that CCVs went from a $0 program for the company in 2018 to a $54 million one in 2023.

Collectible popcorn buckets at movie theaters first came into the cultural mainstream in the spring of 2024, when AMC’s “Dune: Part Two” themed sandworm-based vessel went viral. First on social media, and then on TV’s “Saturday Night Live.”

But that bucket wasn’t the first of its kind. Cinemark also tried a few designs in the mid-2010s and AMC released a successful R2D2 bucket in 2019 for the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Selling at $49.99, the 2019 R2D2 bucket sold out in 48 hours even though it was reportedly seen as a “dice roll” for both AMC and Disney. AMC subsequently planned a slate of new buckets to debut in 2020.

But then the pandemic stopped in-person viewings and the collectible bucket markets in their tracks. Albeit with one notable exception in the 2021 replica of the “Ghostbusters” Ecto-1 car. Which reportedly sold out all of its 30,000-bucket inventory on the November 19 opening night of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”

It wasn’t until moviegoing started to creep back to pre-Covid levels in 2023, however, that the collectible popcorn bucket concept took off at scale, according to Fast Company.

Cinemark’s “Scream VI” bucket released in March 2023 sold out “almost immediately” in theaters. And Cinemark and Regal both reported major interest in their “Barbie”-themed buckets from that year. With Cinemark reporting consumer demand for them through December despite the film’s July release.

Even more recently, Cinemark, Regal and AMC all offered their own unique collectible buckets for the July 2024 release of “Deadpool & Wolverine.” AMC alone offered five different designs. All of which reportedly sold out after opening day on July 26, representing tens of thousands of buckets.

And there are even more collectible designs to come in 2024. Regal has announced some highly anticipated “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” CCVs for the film’s release. Including a tombstone, a spiraling sandworm, and a copy of “Handbook for the Recently Deceased.” Additionally, Regal, Cinemark, and AMC will all sell their own replicas of monsters from “Alien: Romulus.”

As one might expect, a subindustry of CCV resellers has also emerged. The original R2D2 vessel from 2019 was reportedly selling for around $100 on eBay as of August 2024. And the “Dune” sandworm bucket sold for as much as $140.

Comparisons have been made between collectible popcorn buckets and the merchandise people are willing to pay a premium for at major theme parks. Only this is now just a part of the everyday movie-going experience at your local theater.