Film fans have been left shocked by Dune: Part 2's bizarre promotional popcorn bucket.
The forthcoming sequel to the Academy-award nominated movie will finally hit theaters on March 1, after being delayed due to last year’s Hollywood writers' strikes.
Dune: Part Two will follow Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet) as he unites with Chani (portrayed by Zendaya) and the Fremen to get vengeance against the conspirators who destroyed his family.
Atreides now faces the difficult decision to choose between his love life and the fate of the universe. Other notable stars like Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Josh Brolin, Christopher Walken, and Rebecca Ferguson will also appear in the film. Watch the Dune: 2 trailer below:
However, the upcoming flick has gone viral on social media for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the movie.
Cinemagoers at AMC Theatres were provided with a promotional popcorn bucket, which has a lid that looks like a replica of a sandworm - the giant extraterrestrial creature from Arrakis, a fictional planet featured in the novels and movies.
The tan-colored sandworm's open mouth consists of long, sharp teeth with a small hole in the middle, where fans can reach inside and grab the tasty popcorn.
However, despite the product fitting the theme of the movie, it has conjured many dirty-minded thoughts for some online users as they pointed out the uncanny similarity between the plastic popcorn receptacle and a 'Fleshlight' - a sex toy for men
One stunned person on X (formerly Twitter) shared a picture of the object and penned: "I kid you not… these are the #Dune2 popcorn buckets," adding a shocked and skull emoji. Check out the bucket below:
"Just hear me out for a minute," another user wrote in a reply that accumulated 12,000 likes, while a third quipped: "This should be considered a marketing war crime."
The commotion made its way over to TikTok where user @butthatsmyopinion posted pictures of the bucket and joked: "Someone’s getting fired," before adding: "I mean, from the side, great. But then you see it from another angle - this is gonna be a high-demand popcorn bucket."
Meanwhile, others suggested that the film's marketing team knew exactly what the popcorn bucket's design resembled and went ahead with production for that reason.
"My conspiracy theory is they knew and they're playing us like fiddles with all the free marketing and also money they're gonna make when we all buy this ironically," someone observed.
"There's a design person getting their head chewed off while they try not to giggle somewhere out there at AMC HQ [right now]. Godspeed to them," a commenter on Reddit remarked.
The buckets will be available from February 29, according to a TikTok post by AMC Theaters.
That would make it the latest film to have collectible popcorn tins as part of the moviegoing experience, following Greta Gerwig's Barbie, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour movie, and Beyonce's Renaissance Tour concert film.
Dune 2 is set to hit theaters on March 1, 2024.
