The 'Dune: Part Two' Popcorn Bucket Is the First Great Meme of 2024 — Here's How to Get One

Amid an uncertain box-office era quite literally plagued by a global pandemic, Dune managed to do the improbable in 2021 by becoming a box-office success during a time when people were avoiding movie theaters altogether. Based on Frank Hebert's acclaimed sci-fi novel of the same name, the film follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he attempts to survive warfare on an unforgiving desert planet.

Now in 2024, Dune: Part Two seeks to continue adapting the story.

Having had its release date pushed back and forth and in all directions due to Hollywood strikes in the summer of 2023, the release of Dune: Part Two is officially on the horizon in early March 2024. Ahead of the film's release, however, pictures of the upcoming promotional popcorn bucket for the sequel have already gone viral. Unfortunately, it's for all the wrong reasons. Whether your a fan of the Dune story or just want to meme on it for a bit, here's how to get the new popcorn bucket.

Promotional popcorn buckets at participating movie theaters are nothing new. If you're truly willing to spend a little extra cash on top of the exuberant movie snack prices you're already splurging on, you can get your hands on a high-quality, specially designed popcorn bucket that fits the theme of whatever blockbuster film is being released at the time. The designs can be really cool, too! For instance, the Dungeons and Dragons bucket is designed as an intricate D20.

Unfortunately, some of these designs can come in very, very poor taste, leading one to wonder how on earth something like it got approved by marketing. The Dune: Part Two popcorn bucket falls squarely in that category.

On Jan. 25, 2024, YouTuber Cris Parker aka 3CFilms was able to snap a pic of the new popcorn buckets for the upcoming Dune sequel. The design is supposed to be based on the open mouths of the colossal Sandworm creatures that reside on the desert planet Arrakis where the film is set.

Fans are seeing it ... differently.

The unintentionally suggestive design of the bucket has led many to dub it the "fleshlight" popcorn bucket. Unsurprisingly, several netizens have already exhausted just about every NSFW joke one can make about the popcorn bucket, and the film isn't even out yet.

If you really, truly want to get your hands on one, then they'll reportedly be available at AMC, according to Twitter user David Ehrlich, who also had words about the bucket's design. As of this writing, the price and availability have not yet been confirmed, but it may end up being an interesting social experiment to see who's brave enough to get their hands on these promotional items during the film's opening weekend.

Dune: Part Two will be released in theaters on March 1, 2024.