Popcorn buckets become collectibles boosting cinema revenue
AMC Theatres introduced themed popcorn buckets for Christopher Nolan's 'Odissea', featuring a sold-out Trojan horse priced at $70 and a replica of an IMAX camera. Popcorn contributes to approximately 36% of AMC's total revenue, sometimes soaring to 40-50% of its profits. Collectible buckets are a staple for major film releases such as 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' and 'Barbie'. AMC projects that bucket sales will hit $100 million by 2026, nearly doubling the figures from 2023. Cinemark saw a 40% rise in merchandising sales from 2024 to 2025. The trend, which started in 2019 with AMC's R2-D2 bucket, involves three companies designing buckets under studio licenses. Collectors frequently resell these items on eBay, and the trend is expanding in Italy, with independent cinemas like Victoria Cinema in Modena launching merchandise stores.
Key facts
- AMC sold Trojan horse popcorn bucket for $70, sold out for 'Odissea'
- AMC's food and beverage revenue was nearly 36% of total in last quarter
- AMC estimates $100 million from bucket sales in 2026, double 2023
- Cinemark merchandising sales up 40% between 2024 and 2025
- Collectible bucket trend started in 2019 with AMC's R2-D2 bucket
- Three companies design buckets: Snap Creative, Golden Link, Zinc
- James Gunn collaborated on Superman bucket design
- Popcorn sales became key to cinema economics in the 1920s
Entities
Artists
- Christopher Nolan
- James Gunn
Institutions
- AMC Theatres
- Cinemark
- Snap Creative
- Golden Link
- Zinc
- The Space
- UCI Cinemas
- Victoria Cinema Modena
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Wall Street Journal
- Disney
- eBay
Locations
- United States
- Italy
- Modena
- California