Bucket List: The Movie Themed Popcorn Collectibles That Fans Want
From M3GAN’s removable face to Galactus, summer snacks get blockbuster treatment
A trip to the movies to see the latest summer blockbuster is a tradition–and one that is only complete with movie theater snacks! Popcorn, soda, candy–it’s all part of the theater-going experience. We live for those hours spent during summer months sitting in a dark, air conditioned room with tasty, overpriced treats watching the latest massive film.
Eating snacks at the movies is a tradition that dates all the way back to the 1920s, when Depression-era snacks like popcorn were affordable for patrons to buy and profitable for theaters to serve. Popcorn is even credited with saving theaters from going out of business during this time, since the profit margin was significant. By the 1940s, candy like Milk Duds and Raisinets along with soda from Coca-Cola were added to the menus, and theater lobbies turned into concession stands.
Now, you can’t even pass a theater from the outside without smelling the delicious popcorn luring you in. But snacks alone aren’t what’s on fans’ minds these days. We have entered a new era of epic movie branding, with specialty snack vessel merchandising. Collectible soda cups and popcorn buckets are must-haves for fans and they drive sales both to the movies and at concessions.
The first collectible concession vessel (or, CCV) was the R2D2 bucket in the shape of the beloved droid, released for Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker in 2019, which retailed at $50. Since then, the popcorn bucket merch experience has become synonymous with blockbuster films, with filmmakers like Tom Cruise, Tim Burton and James Cameron even signing off on the designs. Branded CCVs have run the gamut from beautiful Eras Tour logo tins for showings of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in theaters to more questionable offerings, like the disastrous design for the Dune bucket (which was ripe for humorous comment via the internet and Saturday Night Live.)
The most recent novelty CCVs for these summer blockbusters are must-haves for any fan. We pulled together the Summer 2025 offerings that fans had to have. If you’re lucky, you may have snagged one of these!
Lilo & Stitch
The live action Lilo & Stitch film came with some adorable offerings for snack merch at theaters. AMC Theaters sold a Stitch figured drink and popcorn combo vessel for large popcorn and drink orders, while regular sized snacks could come in a pretty branded bucket with matching cup, complete with Stitch-shaped toppers and a Stitch-ears headband. Cinemark offered a popcorn tub with a plush, and an enormous exclusive 130 oz popcorn tin, and a variety of cups and sippers. Regal Cinemas had a perfectly cute graphic tin and cup combo.
Superman
The newest Superman installment from James Gunn is a bonafide summer blockbuster. Of course, fans…ahem…flew to theaters for some pretty cool collectible CCVs too. Perhaps the most innovative was the Heat Vision Popcorn Popper bucket. I suppose if we had heat vision, a logical way to use it would be to heat up some corn? But if you’re looking for something a little more…round, they also offered a Crypto Bucket: a bowl with Superman’s beloved dog attached. The High Flying Light Up Cup features a dynamic 3D shape and figure of Superman flying, and for traditionalists, the Kryptonian Collectible Combo gets you a collectible large bucket with two cups and toppers of Superman and Lex Luthor. Cinemark featured a variety of CCVs, including an actual dog-bowl shaped bucket in honor of Krypto. Alamo Drafthouse offered a very classic logo bucket with a coordinating removable lid (perfect if you’re taking extra popcorn home!). AMC Theaters’ competitive bucket? A Daily Planet newspaper dispenser, with a coordinating cup which features….a cape.
Jurassic World: Rebirth
The Jurassic Park franchise is synonymous with “blockbuster.” And with an epic film, you need an epic popcorn bucket. Maybe even….dino sized. Good thing, because Cinemark came out with a lifelike T Rex head popcorn bucket. Regal’s prestige offering was an Incubator Dual Container–part incubator from the film, part sipper, all in all a creepy cool contraption that looks like it’s straight from the doomed lab. The Carnivore Combo features a cup and various toppers and a more traditional if not dangerous-looking red square bucket with dino silhouettes. AMC went an entirely different route, with a dino Footprint bucket–a wider tray-like bucket, perfect for sharing!
M3GAN 2.0
The offerings for CCVs themed for the sequel to M3GAN are nothing short of outrageous. Every bucket designed by a major theater franchise features the best thing about the AI robot: her adorably creepy head. Alamo Drafthouse sold a bucket of a full bust of the robot, which opens from the top out to the sides, rendering her head split in half (and you get a collectible gold charm too!) AMC’s Face Off bucket featured a bust of the robot as well, but offered a different sinister take: M3gan’s pretty face is…detachable to reveal a robot face underneath. Further removal leads to the vessel itself. Not to be outdone, Cinemark’s Cyberpunk bucket is a futuristic bust of the character’s colorful look in the new film.
Mission: Impossible, The Final Reckoning
The newest Mission: Impossible franchise film took the movie theme to the merch. Regal’s innovative Entity popcorn bucket had a most unique feature: an actual key to open it. It was designed–with Tom Cruise’s approval no doubt–to resemble the very item that his character spends the film seeking to obtain: the cruciform key. The bucket opens on the top to reveal two pieces which must be combined to form the key. A perfect bucket for the movie-goer who doesn’t want to share their snacks! We can relate. Not to be outdone, though, AMC offered a lifelike Briefcase with sipper combo–which lights up on one side and contains hidden spy features to boot.
Jaws
Several buckets have emerged for the 50th anniversary of the classic film, Jaws, which most agree was the first summer blockbuster film as we define it. AMC Theaters and Alamo Drafthouse released a giant plastic shark with an open mouth to hold as much popcorn as you might imagine a great white could eat at once. Cinemark released a variety of Amity Island chum buckets as well as a bucket in the shape of a submersible shark cage.
Thunderbolts
The Marvel film about the antihero Thunderbolts team inspired some really innovative CCVs. Regal’s Astrix bucket looks like a traditional round receptacle, until you look inside: an interlocking sipper fits right in the center, and removing it makes room for popcorn. Thunderbolts assemble…but so do your CCVs. Cinemark’s Red Guardian Helmet/Mask bucket looks pretty cool, and lifting the mask reveals the goods inside. But the real star was AMC’s Red Guardian Limousine, a true stretch limo you can easily share across two laps–and the roof opens up to reveal your popcorn inside.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
The newest Marvel film hits theaters right in the middle of summer, and the popcorn buckets are the very height (literally) of epic blockbuster fare. Available from Regal, AMC, and Cinemark, the Galactus LED Popcorn Bucket is the biggest, most impressive bucket in recent memory. And the most expensive, as it retails at….$79.99! It is an absolutely huge bust of Galactus with LED light up eyes. It comes in at 20 inches wide, 17.5 inches tall, and 9.6 inches deep. Now, that’s a lot of popcorn. And since you can order it online, maybe it's worth leaving at home. In addition to this undeniable collector’s edition, Regal offers the Fantasticar popcorn container as well as the Fantastic Four Collectible Combo that includes a collectible bucket and cup with a randomly selected character topper. There are–you guessed it–four different versions. AMC offers the additional H.E.R.B.I.E. Concession Vessel, a combo popcorn, drink, and candy holder. Cinemark offers a much more low-key, if not unique, Mr. Fantastic bucket, which features Pedro Pascal’s Mr. Fantastic stretching his arms around the bucket. Hey, we’re always here for a Pedro Pascal hug!
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