NBC
AMC decided to release a very special popcorn bucket to commemorate the release of Dune: Part 2, and one of the people who had a hand in that decision says they probably would have gone a different route if they’d been able to anticipate the response it got from sickos on the internet.
The folks at AMC have spent the past couple of years trying to lure moviegoers to its theaters with the help of limited-edition popcorn buckets inspired by popular films including The Batman, Barbie, and a number of Marvel projects.
Earlier this year, the chain decided to think outside the bucket yet again prior to the release of Dune: Part Two by drawing inspiration from the sandworms that the Fremen refer to as “Shai-Hulud” featuring a top inspired by the teeth-lined mouths of the massive creatures.
It didn’t take long for pictures of the popcorn buckets to take the internet by storm before people started shelling out some absurd money on eBay to secure a collector item that went viral thanks to people who noticed it looked like something you’d stick a certain part of the male anatomy in as opposed to your hand.
AMC undoubtedly benefitted from the publicity the popcorn bucket was able to generate, but during a recent interview with Variety, Chief Content Officer Elizabeth Frank made it pretty clear she was surprised by the reception it got.
I have a hard time imagining there wasn’t at least one person at AMC who referred to the top of the popcorn bucket as the “Forbidden Hole” during the design process, but Frank seemed to assert they never anticipated the reaction it received, saying:
“We continue to learn and evolve. We would have never imagined the Dune thing. We would have never created it knowing it would be celebrated or mocked.”
Whatever you say, Elizabeth. Whatever you say.