Dune Part 2 Director Denis Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet Discuss the Infamous Popcorn Bucket

Denis Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet are sitting down to talk about the controversial popcorn bucket that circulated online for Dune: Part Two. The sequel to 2021's Dune is heading to theaters on March 1st, and it features a star-studded cast including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Rebecca Ferguson, and many more. But earlier this year, alleged popcorn buckets shaped like the film's sandworms were available in theaters for Dune: Part Two went viral for their, let's just say, peculiar, design. Saturday Night Live even parodied the Dune: Part Two popcorn buckets during a sketch. The film's director and leading man are now offering their comments on the viral buckets.

The New York Times sat down with Denis Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet to talk about Dune: Part Two, where the two were asked about the souvenir sandworm popcorn buckets. Chalamet gave a quick glance over at Villeneuve, with the two chuckling nervously before responding. "I don't want to make stupid jokes right now that will I regret tomorrow morning," Villeneuve said. "But I will say this. When I saw it, I went, 'Hoooooly smokes.' What the [expletive]!? At the same time, it created a lot of fun online. So maybe it's positive? It's some kind of …impressive design."

"I can't tell if someone is at home right now going, 'My design worked perfectly and everyone's talking about it.' Or if someone's brutally offended by the response," Chalamet added.

Villeneuve hoped "that bucket brought a lot of laughter and joy" to moviegoers, though he and Chalamet both revealed that they had no part in the popcorn bucket's design.

Dune: Part Two puts story over spectacle

ComicBook.com gave Dune: Part Two 4 out of 5 stars, applauding it for choosing to focus on the movie's story over big, flashy moments. You can read a snippet of the Dune: Part Two review below:

Herbert's Dune is not only a thrilling journey in its own right, but it also serves as an allegory exploring themes of colonialism, fanaticism, religion, imperialism, and the exploitation of natural resources. These aren't entirely crowd-pleasing ideas, and Villeneuve largely accomplishes honoring those themes while also making for an engaging sci-fi epic. It doesn't quite feel as awe-inspiring as the debut film, but this will ultimately work in the favor of the story, as we aren't given arbitrarily inflated elements that would have fit within the blockbuster-oriented sensibilities of franchise filmmaking seen in so many other series. Still, the fact that such an inaccessible tome could be brought to life without having to sacrifice either the character complexities or depressing allegories found within the source material makes the two-film journey a triumph in its own right, and we can't wait to see where Messiah will take us.

Dune: Part Two will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. 

The big-screen epic Dune: Part Two includes Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Léa Seydoux, with Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem. Denis Villeneuve directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts based on Frank Herbert's iconic novel.