Dune: Part Two is one of the most anticipated movies of the year, so the last thing it needed to succeed was a novelty popcorn bucket. Especially one that bears an uncanny resemblance to—well, we'll get to that in a minute.
But the film's marketers decided to go with a novelty popcorn bucket anyway, designed to resemble the film and book series' infamous sandworms, and its appearance pretty much instantly became an internet meme.
So much so that the memes even made it Dune: Part Two's director Denis Villeneuve. And he had three words to say about it in a recent interview with The New York Times: "What the f**k?"
If you're just a regular person, that popcorn bucket probably just looks... well, like a sandworm from Dune turned into a popcorn bucket.
The marketers' idea was that each time a moviegoer wanted some popcorn, they'd have to reach into the sandworm's maw.
But if you're like pretty much everyone on the internet, you have a filthy mind, so that opening looks not so much like a sandworm but... well something you're not so much putting a hand into but a different appendage entirely, if you will.
A Fleshlight sex toy. The internet thought it looked like a Fleshlight sex toy. So obviously the popcorn bucket went viral for all the wrong reasons.
While speaking to the Times, Villeneuve couldn't help but get in on the chuckles.
Of seeing the bucket, he told the paper:
"I don’t want to make stupid jokes right now that I will regret tomorrow morning, but I will say this. When I saw it, I went, 'Hoooooly smokes.' What the f**k?!"
"At the same time, it created a lot of fun online. So maybe it’s positive? It’s some kind of …impressive design."
That it is, Mr. Villeneuve, that it is. And of course, Villeneuve's reaction has reignited the commentary on the weirdly sexy popcorn bucket.
Holy smokes, indeed.
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