Popcorn bucket innovation is at an all-time low and the Dune: Part Three 'Double Sandworm' is proof

AMC Theatres

Collectible popcorn buckets have become a fixture of movie theaters' post-pandemic recovery, and if hawking plastic helps them keep the lights on, so be it. But if we are going to submit ourselves to the Funko Pop-ification of food receptacles, shouldn't they at least be interesting?

Two years after Dune: Part Two's Sandworm popcorn bucket went viral, AMC Theatres made the obvious decision to double down for Dune: Part Three. The theater chain is selling two themed buckets for the film's release, the "Sandworm Thumper" and "Double Sandworm," each with a worm-shaped hand hole (the Double, naturally, has two).

An epic conclusion calls for legendary collectibles. See DUNE: PART THREE and seize control of your collection, including AMC Theatres exclusives on 12/17. Take a sneak peek now. 👀 https://t.co/XIUIke0xaZ pic.twitter.com/h0xjF4WwWS

— AMC Theatres (@AMCTheatres) October 29, 2026

Adding a second hole solves one of the original bucket's problems by letting two people reach for popcorn at the same time, while underlining the sexual innuendo many people found implicit in the original bucket's orifice. It's also completely uninspired.

You can get a lot of mileage out of serving popcorn out of an unusually shaped box. AMC was right to think it would be funny to eat out of a handbag while watching The Devil Wears Prada 2. It's hard not to love the Trojan Horse bucket sold for The Odyssey. Even the "Guile Hair" wearable popcorn bucket the company sold alongside Street Fighter has some charm. But those are the exceptions, and novelty can only take you so far.

Is it actually fun to reach on top of your head for popcorn more than once? Is adding a second hole the best AMC could come up with to capture the spirit of one of the more visually striking blockbuster franchises in recent memory? Should anyone in their right mind pay $35 for a bowl with a lumpy hand in it that says "Clayface" on the side? I don't think so.

One reason the original Sandworm bucket might have connected is that its creators somehow didn't anticipate people would immediately see it as a sex toy. It was weird, seemingly by accident. Most popcorn buckets released since don't appear to be made with that same level of childlike naivete, and they're worse for it.