How crazy popcorn buckets became big business for movie theaters

For decades, Popcorn has been a staple of the cinema experience and exhibitors Bottom Lines. Now the container that comes in becomes just as important.

As recently as three years ago, AMC Entertainment has not sold merchandise. Last year the novelty Popcorn Buckers, Drink Sippers and T-shirts havened at an amount of around $ 65 million in income.

“It started with us in a great way with our own film, 'Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour', which we released in October 2023 and we only sold an incredible number of popcornemers,” said AMC CEO Adam Aron. “That led us to almost always do it … just literally every month.”

Other theater chains such as Cinemark” MarcusRegal- en B&B theaters have also embraced popcornemers, using these special items to stimulate concession sales, to create a feeling of urgency to see large films in the opening weekend and adding value to the theatrical experience.

“Post-Covid we realized that the event of Cinema has never been as important as now,” says Paul Farnsworth, executive director communication and content at B&B Theaters. “At that time we acknowledged that the biggest victim for our industry was that people just fell out of the habit of going to films.”

Hollywood production problems led to less theatrical releases and smaller ticket sales in 2024, with cash register receptions with 3.4% from 2023 to $ 8.74 billion. Farnsworth noted that unique Popcornemmers can add value to the journey of a customer to the films and creates a reminder of the journey that can be taken home, can be stuck or reused for film evenings on a display board.

“It's very good for the Bottom Line,” he said. “The great value for us is that people come in and there are these fun things they take home and they take photos with them in the theater. There is enormous value in it.”

For Cinemark, the proof of concept came with the release of “Scream VI” in 2023.

“We have made a 'Scream' popcornemmer and it completely surprised us,” said Sean Gamble, CEO of Cinemark. “This thing just had this huge recording. We were immediately sold out and we actually sold them online to people afterwards.”

Memorial bins Popcorn have long been part of merchandising the theme park, so that the income of people like Disney And Universal Both in your own country and internationally. However, cinemas established in the US were too late to take on the trend.

Marketing and merchandise company Zink has been designing and producing international popcornemmers and Drink Sippers for more than ten years, but focused his attention in 2016.

“Theaters were reluctant because the cups did not fit in the holders,” said Rod Mason, vice -president of business development at Zink Group, one of the largest players in the premium popcorn space.

A shift came in 2019 with an R2-D2 popcornemmer made for “Star Wars: the rise of skywalker,” Mason said.

“AMC took a point,” he explained. “They took several tens of thousands of pieces. They sold it in about three or four days at an incredibly high price. Something like that had never been done before, and it was like” ok, well, this works. “

A renewed version of the Droid Popcorn bucket was re-released for the 25th birthday screenings of “Star Wars: Episode 1-a Phantom Menace.”

The Popcorn -Bucket and Drink Cup combination sold for $ 49.99.

Almost five years later, the real turning point for the Nichemarkt came with a notorious popcornemmer in honor of “Dune: Part Two”, released in last March. The bucket was modeled on the sandworms in the film, but inspired raw comparisons with an adult product.

“The beauty of the 'Dune' bucket was that it was simply not meant to be viral,” said Mason.

The bucket of $ 24.99 was sold out and found Momentum in secondary markets. Receipts from eBay show that these popcornemers are being sold for between $ 50 and $ 210 each on the Reseller site.

“The popularity of the popcornemmers on social media in combination with the perception of limited delivery of the popcornemmers leads to a sense of 'fear of missing' among consumers who are driven to buy the buckets when when when [they] See them available, “said Lindsay Brookshier, content director at Online Disney Guide Mickeyvist.com.

The “Dune” Mak inspired “Deadpool & Wolverine” actor and producer Ryan Reynolds to design a brutal popcornemmer for the release of his film.

“For years from now on they will look back on 2024 as when the war of the popcorn tires began,” wrote Reynolds on X to promote the concessionary container, who had the shape of Wolverine's head with his mouth wide open to house the popcorn.

The bucket of $ 29.99 was exclusively available at AMC and was released in the same weekend as San Diego Comic-Con and the film release “Deadpool & Wolverine”.

Studios and theaters have been more proactive in working with companies such as zinc to make unique Popcornemmers for cinema visitors.

“It's a very competitive company,” said Mason. “Everyone tries to surpass, and not only the companies like us, but also the companies that buy it. They try to make sure they have the coolest item … That competition has been enlarged in the last 12 months because there is so much eyes on it This segment of the company “

And the film industry is about to have an inflow of blockbuster titles now that the production of the pandemic and double Hollywood attacks are in the rear -view mirror.

Following “Captain America: Brave New World”, which debuted on Friday, the 2025 calendar “Thunderbolts*”, “Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Jurassic World Rebirth,” “Superman,” “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” “Wicked: For Good,” “Zootopia 2”, and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

And 2026 has equally promising Tie-ins for Popcornemmers with a “Super Mario Bros.” Continued, “Avengers: Doomsday”, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” “Toy Story 5,” “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow”, “Minions 3”, “Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Resping,” “Ice Age 6” and “Shrek 5.”

“We missed a few,” said B & B's Farnsworth. “We didn't have that crazy 'dune'. But that was a kind of pivot points for us. It was like:” Okay, we really have to pay attention. “

B&B, the fourth largest cinema chain in America with 58 locations, must still be very intentional about which products it offers and how much it buys. Films such as “Wicked”, with a hugely built -in audience longing for merchandise, are a safer gamble. But theaters have a very short window to sell the special items.

“Unlike our normal popcorn bags, which are evergreen if you don't sell it [product]You will probably not sell them a month after the movie, “said Farnsworth.

In the meantime, AMC is investing heavier.

“One of the great things we will do in 2025 is that we considerably increase the quantities,” Aron said, and noted that AMC already placed orders for 100,000 units or more. “We buy because we are not needed to sell on the opening day. Many people come to that film for weeks and weeks.”

Publication: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUIVERSAL and CNBC.