AMC Theatres has shown off its popcorn buckets for Dune: Part Three, and the headline design carries not one sandworm mouth but two. The Double Sandworm Collectible is built so two people can reach into the same tub at once. A second design, the Sandworm Thumper Collectible, adds a moving part that copies the device the Fremen use to call the giant worms across the sand. Both buckets arrive at AMC cinemas in the United States and at Odeon Cinemas across Europe on December 17, 2026, one day before the film opens.
Two Sandworm Mouths Built for Sharing
The Double Sandworm puts two sandworm heads side by side on the same lid. Each head has its own round opening ringed with rows of teeth. AMC’s press release says the layout makes it “easier to share popcorn”. The chain’s own social media post leaned into the joke, telling customers to “seize control of your collection”.
Two people can sit with the bucket between them and each use a separate mouth. That solves one practical problem from the 2024 version, which had a single opening and forced two people to take turns. The new shape also makes the bucket wider across the top, which gives it more room for a large popcorn.
Variety reported the two-mouth design as the main follow-up to the Dune: Part Two bucket that became a viral hit two years ago. The Hollywood Reporter described the Double Sandworm as “a double-worm design for two people sharing”. IGN summed it up in one line: “There’s one with two sandworm mouths, so you can share popcorn with other Dune-heads.”
AMC has not hidden what it is doing. The chain knows the original bucket became famous for reasons that had little to do with popcorn. The new design pushes that same joke further and makes no attempt to step back from it.
The Thumper Bucket That Moves While You Eat
The Sandworm Thumper Collectible keeps a single sandworm mouth but adds a small working thumper on the side. A thumper is the device Fremen use in the films to pound the desert floor and draw sandworms toward them. On this bucket, the thumper moves up and down while the customer eats.
IGN noted that the thumper “actually moves up and down while you munch your snacks.” Engadget wrote that the design leaves one worm-shaped hand hole, while the Double Sandworm naturally has two. Cineplex, the Canadian chain, listed the item as a vibrating popcorn tub and said the movement is “inspired by the thumpers the Fremen use to summon sandworms in the film.”
The thumper bucket is the closer copy of the original Dune: Part Two container. The mouth sits at an angle and the thumper sits beside it. Anyone who remembers the first bucket will recognise the shape straight away.
A third popcorn-themed item in the AMC lineup is shaped like the mobile containment tank of the Guild Navigator Edric. Regal Cinemas has chosen a Spacing Guild Navigator design of its own rather than another sandworm, which gives collectors a different option.
Prices and Where to Buy in the US, UK, Canada and India
Cineplex in Canada has confirmed prices for its version of the lineup. The Shareable Popcorn Tub (Two Sandworms) costs $32.99. The Sandworm Thumper Popcorn Tub costs $34.99. The Spacing Guild Cup and the Double Wall Sand Cup are $19.99 each. A Kawaii Sandworm Plush is $19.99, and a keychain with a gold metal ring is $11.99. Cineplex said the items will be sold at “most” of its Canadian theatres alongside the film, which arrives in Canada on December 17, 2026.
AMC has not confirmed a price for its US buckets. The Hollywood Reporter reported that pricing will be announced closer to the December 18 release date and that collectible buckets often sell for $25 to $50. The Dune: Part Two canister cost $24.99 plus tax in 2024 and sold for much more on resale sites such as eBay. Both new AMC buckets come with a large popcorn included.
Odeon Cinemas will carry the AMC designs across Europe, including the UK, where the film opens on December 18, 2026. Odeon showed the merchandise in a post on X on October 29.
India gets the film on December 18, 2026 in English and Hindi, according to BookMyShow and Glamsham. No Indian cinema chain has confirmed the sandworm buckets for Indian theatres at the time of writing.
Australia is listed for a December 17, 2026 release. Russia, Iceland and Ireland also appear on December 17 listings. The United States, Canada, UK, India and Japan are listed for December 18.
Early IMAX 70mm screenings begin on December 14, 2026 in selected US and Canadian theatres. More IMAX showings follow on December 15, and standard previews run from December 17.
Why the First Bucket Became a Viral Hit
AMC released a sandworm popcorn bucket for Dune: Part Two in early 2024. Photos of the container spread across TikTok, X and Instagram within days. The single mouth opening drew comparisons to an adult toy, and the jokes ran for weeks. The item became a Saturday Night Live sketch in February 2024, with Marcello Hernández playing a teenager singing about the bucket. Ayo Edebiri, Bowen Yang and other cast members joined the song.
The bucket turned into a retail success as well as an online joke. Wikipedia records that the buckets were being resold for as high as $175 at one point. People reported listings reaching hundreds of dollars on eBay. AMC’s chief content officer, Elizabeth Frank, said in April 2024 that the chain would keep making collectible buckets despite the mockery.
Marcus Gonzalez of the Zinc Group, who created the original bucket, told the Wall Street Journal that sexual innuendo “was definitely not the intent”. He added, “The worm’s the worm’s the worm.”
The first bucket also started a trend. Regal sold a Fantastic Four: First Steps bucket for $80 in 2025. AMC has since sold a Trojan horse bucket for The Odyssey, a red handbag for The Devil Wears Prada 2 and a giant gray sperm whale for Whalefall. AMC chief executive Adam Aron has projected the chain will earn more than $100 million from themed tins in 2026, according to Variety.
What Fans Are Saying About the Double Sandworm
Reaction to the new designs arrived fast on October 29, 2026, the morning AMC posted the first images. Comments under the AMC Instagram post mixed jokes with disbelief.
“Doubling down on that sexy beast is a choice,” one Instagram commenter wrote, as reported by Rolling Out and Delish.
“Oh god we’re doing this again,” another commenter said, according to Delish.
“The marketing team took the memes as notes,” one person wrote on X, as reported by The Independent.
“Two worms now. They learned nothing,” another X user wrote, per The Independent.
“They really made His and Hers and Theirs popcorn buckets,” one user joked, as quoted by TheWrap.
“I am never putting my hand in there!” one onlooker wrote, according to The Independent.
“What if we held hands in the Dune 3 popcorn bucket?” another person posted, per The Independent.
Practical complaints came too. One person told The Independent, “You can’t even take a proper fistful of popcorn through that thing.” Delish collected a comment calling the promotional wording “‘It’s really thumping’ is CRAZY”. Another commenter wrote, “Amc needs to be stopped”. Some responses were simply excited, with comments such as “ITS BACK” and “NEED IT”.
Engadget took a colder view of the design itself, writing that adding a second hole “solves one of the original bucket’s problems” but is “completely uninspired”. The outlet questioned whether a second opening was the best AMC could do for a trilogy known for striking visuals.
Hank Green Says the Goal Was to Beat Fan Expectations
Hank Green, AMC’s senior vice president of food and beverage, gave a statement to several outlets on the day of the reveal. He tied the new designs directly to the response that greeted the first bucket.
“The AMC Sandworm popcorn bucket for ‘Dune: Part Two’ became a viral phenomenon, and we knew that ‘Dune’ fans would have high expectations for what came next,” Green said. “From the moment we started planning the ‘Dune: Part Three’ collectibles, our goal was to exceed those fan expectations. The Sandworm Thumper and Double Sandworm collectibles take the experience to the next level with designs straight from the movie.”
The statement appeared in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap, Gizmodo and the Washington Times, among others.
Other Theatre Chains Join In
Cinemark has shown a Copper Sandworm popcorn bucket with a metallic finish. The chain describes the item as “coming soon” but has not posted a price. Regal has chosen a Spacing Guild Navigator design rather than another sandworm and says its exclusive collectible will arrive in theatres in December 2026.
The three chains have not agreed on one shared sale date, price or stock policy. Availability varies by location, and a ticket purchase does not include a collectible. AMC has said its own buckets go on sale December 17.
The Film Behind the Buckets
Dune: Part Three is directed by Denis Villeneuve and adapts Frank Herbert’s novel Dune Messiah. The story picks up about 17 years after the events of the first two films. Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides, now Emperor, and Zendaya returns as Chani in an expanded role. Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Rebecca Ferguson also return. Robert Pattinson joins the cast as the villain Scytale.
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Dune: Part Two earned almost $500 million worldwide in 2024. The first film took $433 million across its full run. The third film opens on the same day as Avengers: Doomsday, setting up a direct box office contest on December 18, 2026. The Hollywood Reporter noted that advance ticket sales for Dune: Part Three at London’s BFI IMAX have already beaten a record held by Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
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