As the popcorn bucket trend continues to dominate headlines at movie theaters, nearly a dozen new collectible buckets have taken the spotlight at chains across the world. 2025 has been loaded with new blockbuster movies from companies like Disney, Warner Bros, and Sony Pictures. On top of the movies themselves, the merchandising tours for each new outing have driven sales to new heights with each passing week.
Ahead are the 10 best movie theater popcorn buckets released in the first half of 2025. While a few iconic pieces of merchandise have been released to celebrate legacy movies rereleased in theaters, the new films being brought to theaters for the first time this year have mostly taken the spotlight for theater-goers.
10 Best Popcorn Buckets Released in Theaters in 2025
Limosine Bucket
Coming from AMC Theatres with the release of Marvel Studios' last Phase 5 movie, Thunderbolts*, was the Exclusive Limousine Popcorn Vessel. This bucket was modeled after a limousine used by David Harbour's Red Guardian, which has "Red Guardian Limo Service, Protecting You From Boring Evening" plastered on the side.
This limo was part of a key action set piece in Thunderbolts*, which featured Sebatian Stan's Winter Soldier chasing down the rest of the Thunderbolts team in that limo before flipping it over and totaling it. While it did not get a ton of screen time, it quickly became memorable for being in one of the most exciting reveals in the film.
Stitch Bucket
Disney's live-action remake of the 2002 animated Lilo & Stitch movie quickly became one of the studio's biggest hits of 2025, having grossed over $850 million at the global box office since its May 23 debut. As part of the new movie's marketing tour, the titular blue alien played a major role in merchandising for Disney.
Part of that merchandising was Stitch-inspired drink containers and popcorn buckets, which are shaped like the character and allows buyers access to the food and drink from the alien's head.
Karate Kid Bucket
Karate Kid: Legends brought together the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai stories into one action-packed martial arts blockbuster behind Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, and Ben Wang. This film continued the popcorn bucket trend with themed buckets inspired by some of the karate-centric parts of the story.
Included in this merchandise was a collectible bucket available at Harkins Theaters, shaped like a pile of bricks with a breakable wood-looking board on the top. Fans could pull the board pieces apart to get to the popcorn, and it was labeled with the logo from the film's karate tournament as well.
Entity Container Bucket
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning came to theaters on May 23, marking the eighth and final movie in Tom Cruise's 29-year run with the franchise. TO celebrate the series coming to an end, multiple theater chains brought a few different popcorn buckets to the market.
Regal Cinemas released a bucket resembling the container that held the Entity in Mission: Impossible 8, complete with the gold two-piece key used to access the AI program.
Chicken Jockey Bucket/Cup
A Minecraft Movie became an instant sensation upon hitting theaters in April, having grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide, behind Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Meyers, and Danielle Brooks. Along with moments from the movie that went viral online from theaters, the film became the stuff of legend from its popcorn buckets.
One of those buckets was inspired by arguably the most hyped moment from any 2025 movie yet - the debut of the Chicken Jockey from the Minecraft game series. Showing a green baby riding on the back of an angry chicken, fans could take home a physical version of the characters who caused full-blown riots in theaters across the world.
Toothless Bucket
Quickly making headlines as one of the biggest hits of 2025 is the live-action How to Train Your Dragon remake, which is already close to standing as the highest-grossing movie of the entire franchise. Taking this movie's fan-favorite dragon characters into consideration, it was almost tailor-made to have a memorable round of merchandise.
Specifically, the Night Fury known as Toothless returned to the spotlight via a popcorn container that used his mouth as the opening for the popcorn. Making his head slightly bigger than the rest of his body, the bucket was an instant hit as fans embraced the adorable monster's green eyes and black, scaly body.
HERBIE Bucket
While The Fantastic Four: First Steps is still a few weeks away from its release, Marvel Studios' first Phase 6 film is already looking to make a major impact on the fandom, pop culture, and the box office. Part of that effort will come from the merchandising campaign, which will highlight some of the biggest newcomers to the Marvel Universe.
One of its upcoming popcorn buckets will be based on the model for HERBIE, the Fantastic Four's robotic assistant, which will also give fans places to hold a drink and candy. This massive replica will allow fans the chance to celebrate a character who is expected to be a fan-favorite while enjoying their theater concessions out of that same hero.
Jurassic World T-Rex Bucket
Fans will return to the land of dinosaurs for the first time in three years this summer with the release of Jurassic World: Rebirth, starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey. With the prehistoric monsters coming back to the forefront, they will make for perfect characters to use for inspiration in the movie's merchandising.
The next Jurassic movie will utilize one of the franchise's most famous creatures, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, for a must-buy popcorn bucket that will be available for purchase. Fans will have the chance to get their hands on a large T-Rex head, with the popcorn being placed inside the carnivore's mouth for fans to enjoy.
Galactus Head Popcorn Bucket
AMC Theaters will continue driving the popcorn bucket train with one of the biggest collectible items in recent memory for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which will be inspired by the MCU film's main villain, Galactus.
Standing at 17 inches tall, this bucket replicates Galactus' head, complete with the appendages on the side of his head and the blue-lensed mask over his eyes. Coming at an exorbitant $80 price tag, this will be one of the biggest and most expensive popcorn buckets of any 2025 movie, although it will make quite the collectible item for diehard fans.
Krypto the Super-Dog Popcorn Bucket
Not to be outdone, DC Studios is about to kick off the new DCU with its first theatrical movie, James Gunn's Superman. With this being the first solo movie for the Man of Steel since 2013, the film will feature plenty of the hero's biggest friends and foes, including some who will be replicated in popcorn bucket form.
The most adorable of those items will feature Krypto the Super-Dog, which has the powered canine sitting on a platform and holding a red and white popcorn bucket in his mouth.
Richard Nebens joined The Direct in March 2020, now serving as the site's Senior Writer and also working as an assistant editor and content creator. He started his journalism career as a hobby in 2019 and is passionate about sharing news and stories from the entertainment industry, especially comic book movies, comedy, and sci-fi. Richard looks to expand his knowledge about movies and TV every day, and he is eager to stay locked into the latest releases and breaking news at every opportunity.
