By Sarah BregelFeatures correspondent
AMCIconic movie merchandise that paved the way for the viral Dune popcorn bucket.
After its opening weekend, Dune 2 has already grossed £147m ($182.5m) globally. But it wasn’t just Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya drawing fans to the theatre: the film’s limited-edition popcorn bucket, released by AMC in honour of the film, has a fandom all its own.
The bucket is unique, to say the least. It resembles a sandworm, aka a Shai-Hulud, of the planet Arrakis. When reaching into the bucket, a fan’s hand has to graze the creature’s plastic teeth to get to the popcorn inside. Videos about the bucket have amassed millions of views on TikTok, been the subject of a SNL skit and been laughed about by late night host Jimmy Kimmel. But fans don’t seem put off by the strangeness – or the suggestiveness – of the snack holder. In fact, the popularity of it is indisputable – that is, unless you ask the cast.
The stars of the film seemed borderline disturbed by the popular piece of merchandise, according to a recent Entertainment Tonight interview. Zendaya commented on how difficult it seems to actually get the popcorn out: “It pulls the popcorn out of your hand,” she told the publication, while a creeped-out Josh Brolin added, “I’m not sticking my hand in there.”
Still, the buckets have proven to be a successful gimmick, and perhaps the fandom should have been expected – there is a long history of memorable merchandise from Dune films. The 1984 version of the film by director David Lynch had unique memorabilia: you could buy sandworm action figures, which you can still find on eBay today. Only now, they’re being sold for hundreds. Likewise, the Dune lunchbox and thermos can still be found on Etsy. Plus, Dune isn’t even the first film in the last year to be marketed with a pricey, fan-baiting popcorn receptacle.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie had its own popcorn tins, too: Instead of sandworms, they resembled the icon’s pink Corvette. The Barbie brand seemed unavoidable leading up to the film’s release, and it paid off. Not only did the movie have a history-making opening weekend, but sales for Barbie merchandise and Barbies themselves were massive.
Getty ImagesBeyond Dune: Iconic movie merchandise that raked in billions
Much of the most memorable movie merchandise is from the ’80s and ’90s. Star Wars holds the Guinness World Record for most successful film merchandising franchise. But clearly, 20th Century Fox didn’t realise just how massive merchandise sales for the films would be, given they sold the merchandise rights to the film’s director, George Lucas.
More like this:
Mark Hopkins, a self-professed Star Wars nerd who has an office littered with memorabilia, such as Jabba the Hutt and an Imperial walker, says that collecting items from the iconic film is, in part, about showing it off. He calls his items “a badge of pride”. He also collects t-shirts and vinyl, but his Star Wars items are special because they remind him of being a kid and have more “sentimental value”. He adds that his collecting has nothing to do with financial worth. “All my stuff is beat up, but it still makes me smile,” he said.
Memorabilia can certainly catapult a film’s earning, though. Jurassic Park, which shattered box office records, sold mega amounts of merchandise, too. In 1994, toys, books, clothes and other dino-inspired gear topped $1bn (£778), MCA/Universal revealed. Back then, that number was unheard of.
These days, Marvel films regularly reach that mark for merchandise sales. One notable film that far surpassed it was Frozen. In 2013, the popularity of Anna, Elsa and Olaf led to a whopping $5.3bn (£4.3bn) in merchandise sales. Harry Potter, the book-turned-film series, has entire theme parks, stores and concert series for Potterheads, with countless goods to be purchased. The brand is estimated to be worth $15bn (£11.8bn).
Azhelle Wade runs the site The Toy Coach, which teaches toy professionals how to succeed in the industry, and has worked on toys such as the award-winning Wakanda Forever line of dolls. Wade tells BBC Culture that social media drives movie merchandise sales.
“Social media today is what movies used to be to toys,” she says. “Toy companies used to plan alongside studios for movie releases”, she said, and while it still happens, “it’s not as big of a push as social media” now is.
Hopkins notes that when it comes to film merchandise, accumulating collectibles has always been part of the draw – now, there are just ample social media platforms to show off your merchandise. But no matter what you do with it, or what it means to you, the sandworm popcorn bucket certainly did what it was meant to: got people talking – and posting – about Dune: Part Two.
If you liked this story, sign up for The Essential List newsletter – a handpicked selection of features, videos and can’t-miss news delivered to your inbox every Friday.
If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.