The New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Popcorn Bucket Seems a Bit Dangerous

Watch out – they’re arming the movie nerds.

AMC may have already taken the still very young custom popcorn bucket trend too far. Their “bucket” for upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim animated movie is a replica of a war hammer used in the film, which measures 27″ in length.

That’s more than two feet long, which means if you’re actually trying to eat the popcorn out of the top of this contraption while watching the movie, the extremely pointy end of the hammer’s staff will have to go either across the chest of the person on either side of you, through the skull of the person in front of you, or through your own stomach.

Even if you get the angle right, at best it will be sticking between the seats in front of you, annoying the living hell out of your fellow movie-goers. If by some miracle the handle can be detached, get ready for it to clatter down the sloped floor of the theater like the discarded beer bottles at a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening. And the price of this unwieldy piece of plastic? A staggering $32.99.

Why Movie Theaters Are Pouncing on the Popcorn Bucket Trend

The custom popcorn bucket trend exploded early this year with the unnervingly sex-toy shaped Dune 2 collectible, which inspired a hilarious wave of “I’m just here to f— the popcorn bucket” t-shirts. In their quest to find new revenue streams to make up for declining attendance, movie studios and theater chains have unleashed an ever-widening range of exclusive merchandise tied to each new blockbuster.

As one example, the three major chains – Regal, AMC and Cinemark – are combining to offer approximately two dozen different popcorn buckets, drink cups, witch hats, t-shirt and stuffed animals connected to the upcoming musical extravaganza Wicked. Acquiring them all would cost hundreds of dollars.

This trend seems unlikely to fade away quickly, so get ready to eat your popcorn out of a Red Hulk’s head or a dinosaur’s butt next year while watching movies like Captain America: Brave New World or Jurassic World: Rebirth.

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