'Dune: Part Three' Popcorn Buckets Bring Back the Sandworms, This Time With Backup

Few pieces of movie merchandise have had the cultural impact of a popcorn bucket, and fewer still have a legacy like the one left by ‘Dune: Part Two’. In early 2024, a tin with a toothy sandworm lid became an internet sensation for reasons that had little to do with the film. Now the franchise is closing its trilogy, and the first look at the ‘Dune: Part Three’ popcorn bucket suggests the sandworms are not done making headlines.

The ‘Dune: Part Two’ bucket was sold by AMC for $24.99 with popcorn included, and it spread across social media weeks before the film’s release because of its suggestive design. It even landed its own ‘SNL’ sketch, and the cast was well aware of the craze. Resellers later listed it on eBay for prices ranging from $52 to more than $800.

The new design takes the idea and doubles it. The bucket in the first-look video has a cream-and-gold body printed with silhouetted figures and the ‘Dune: Part Three’ logo, topped with a light orange lid that carries two sandworm mouths side by side. Each mouth has a ring of teeth and a dark opening, so the lid looks like a pair of sandworms emerging from the dunes.

Fans are already calling it the sequel to the sequel’s bucket. According to reports, the double sandworm design is the one that is going viral, while another piece in the lineup has been called the best-looking bucket of the year so far.

First look at the ‘DUNE: PART 3’ popcorn bucket. https://t.co/h1va6Yso4o
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 29, 2026

The bucket is part of a larger release. Theaters revealed eight collectibles on October 29, including a copper Sandworm Mural bucket, the two-sandworm bucket, a sandworm cup with a thumper on the side, and a squeezable sandworm plush. The lineup also features a Sands of Arrakis cup and a collectible combo.

The Copper Sandworm bucket is carved like an old desert mural, with a sandworm curling around the side and strange writing around the rim. A sandworm bursts out of the sandy lid. AMC and Harkins are among the first chains to show their versions.

First look at ‘DUNE: PART THREE’ popcorn buckets. https://t.co/Y033p4ak5j
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) October 29, 2026

The collectibles arrive at select theaters on December 17, the night before the film opens. Some theaters will start selling them an hour before the first showing. Pricing details haven’t been widely announced, and availability will vary by chain.

Warner Bros. teased the bucket in July through Dune Insider, the franchise’s official fan newsletter, with an image showing a bucket silhouette lit against a warm, sandy glow. That tease promised a reveal along with pre-order details.

Some things are worth crossing the desert for. 🍿 The Dune: Part Three Spacing Guild Navigator popcorn bucket hits theatres this December, exclusively at Regal. #DuneMovie https://t.co/TICy3Xpunk
— Regal (@RegalMovies) October 29, 2026

The ‘Dune: Part Two’ bucket is widely credited with turning theater popcorn buckets into a collectible category. Theater chains began producing items that rivaled park merchandise in design quality, and every major release now comes with a chain-by-chain collectibles program. eBay has reported that popcorn bucket sales on its site rose 225% over five years.

For AMC, the buckets are big business. The chain’s first major bucket was for ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ in 2019, and it later reported $54 million in collectible revenue in a single year, including its ‘Barbie’ buckets. An AMC executive has said the company would not have made the sandworm bucket if it had known it would be both celebrated and mocked.

An epic conclusion calls for legendary collectibles. See DUNE: PART THREE and seize control of your collection, including AMC Theatres exclusives on 12/17. Take a sneak peek now. 👀 https://t.co/XIUIke0xaZ https://t.co/h0xjF4WwWS
— AMC Theatres (@AMCTheatres) October 29, 2026

This isn’t the only big bucket of the season. The Doctor Doom head bucket for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ has been dominating conversation, and the two films open on the same day, December 18. That makes the merchandise battle another front in the box office showdown.

‘Dune: Part Three’ arrives in theaters and IMAX on December 18, with the international rollout starting December 16. Dune Insider screenings begin earlier, in IMAX 70mm only, on December 14. The film concludes Denis Villeneuve’s trilogy and stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Robert Pattinson.

It’s hard to know whether the new design will match the original’s viral peak. The first bucket’s success was partly an accident of timing and perception, which is hard to recreate on purpose. Still, the double sandworm lid shows that the marketing team is willing to lean into the joke.

“Forgive me for all I’ve done.” Experience the epic conclusion. Dune: Part Three only in theaters and IMAX December 18. #DuneMovie #FilmedforIMAX https://t.co/x9Nftg9yXd
— DUNE (@dunemovie) July 8, 2026

For collectors, the real question is whether to buy one to use or to keep sealed. With resale prices historically high, early buyers may be tempted by both.