Alien: Romulus Popcorn Buckets Will Haunt Your Nightmares

The moviegoing experience has gotten a little more interesting lately thanks to some elaborate popcorn buckets. While novelty popcorn buckets have been around for a while, the real mayhem started earlier this year when AMC Theatres’ souvenir sandworm bucket for Dune: Part Two caused a huge stir online and inspired a hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch. Now, other movies have tried to top the design, and they’re only getting weirder. Today, we’ve gotten a glimpse at two new popcorn buckets for Alien: Romulus, which is heading to theaters next month. Fandango shared a creepy Facehugger design while Regal Cinemas has a nightmare-fueled Xeneomorph. 

“Here’s a sneak peek at the #AlienRomulus popcorn bucket 🍿 Get your tickets now👇 http://fandan.co/AlienRomulus,” Fandango wrote.”Its structural perfection is matched only by it’s collectability. A horrifying new popcorn bucket is coming to Regal. #AlienRomulus,” Regan captioned their post. You can check out both popcorn buckets below:

AMC Exec Reacts to Dune Popcorn Bucket Backlash:

Variety recently spoke with Elizabeth Frank, the Chief Content Officer for AMC and she Frank addressed the response to the Dune: Part Two bucket. 

“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,” Frank explained. “Absolutely,” she added when asked if the SNL sketch felt like a “seal of approval.” “And you couldn’t make it happen if you wanted to. It wouldn’t be fair to pull our creative talent aside to say, ‘We hope it makes SNL.’”

“Some fans are collectors. There’s another group of people who are specific film fans, buying three different Ghostbusters products. It’s all a mix. It’s a material part of our food and beverage business, but it’s not the majority of it. It also makes the movies more fun. It’s like going home from a concert with a T-shirt. There is a lot of creative energy from it,” she added.

What Is Alien: Romulus About?

Alien: Romulus is being billed as more of a spinoff rather than a direct continuation of the Alien franchise and will see a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. 

Alien: Romulus stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), Aileen Wu. Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (Don’t Breathe 2) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. 

Alien: Romulus hits theaters on August 16th.