Popcorn buckets are big business. Once the purview of theme parks alone, it seems that every major movie release now his its own popcorn bucket, drink cup, nacho holder, or all of the above. It’s a great piece of added marketing for the studio, it almost certainly helps sell more snacks at the movie theater, and it’s a fun souvenir for fans. It’s also, as The Devil Wears Prada 2's merch proves, a great way to make money for resellers.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is one of the more highly anticipated movies on the 2026 release calendar, but I would never have expected it to also be one of the more highly anticipated poporn buckets in recent memory. The bucket resembles a high-end handbag, and it has equally high-end prices, currently selling on eBay for $100 and higher.
Standard price on the purse/bucket is $39.99, so that’s a pretty significant price increase. Clearly, some people really want this bucket and are willing to pay a premium to ensure they get it. Fandango had some that were being sold online, but they are apparently already sold out. One assumes some number of them will be available in theaters when the movie comes out on May 1, but that doesn’t happen for almost a month, and since demand is clearly going to be high, the odds of your local theater selling out seem high.
As somebody who knows all about eBay reselling of popcorn buckets at Disney World and other theme parks, I’ve seen this before. Back when Epcot sold a Figment popcorn bucket, the park saw lines longer than the rides got, and a not insignificant number of those purchased ended up being sold online.
In the case of a theme park popcorn bucket, it’s at least somewhat understandable why some novelties like this might sell for a premium. Simply getting to the park to buy the thing can be expensive, so spending a bit more to buy the item is still ultimately worth it.
In this case, however, one assumes that the Devil Wears Prada 2 popcorn bucket will be on sale at most of the theaters that are also showing the film. Still, demand might actually be just that much higher that getting one could be tough.
One of the more interesting things about the popularity of this particular popcorn bucket is its simplicity. Many of the popcorn buckets that go viral do so because of their complexity. We’ve seen buckets in bizarre shapes, buckets that have moving parts, and even buckets that need special keys to open. This one is a simple handbag.
It will be interesting to see if the popularity of this popcorn bucket influences those that come out for other films in the future to go with a more simplistic design. One thing this popcorn bucket does prove is that the buckets themselves are still big business, so we certainly won’t be seeing fewer of them in theaters in the future.
