The viral Dune: Part Two popcorn bucket has already carved out its place in film history, evolving from a simple promotional item into a full-blown cultural moment. It was wildly shared, impossible to unsee and nearly as talked about as the hit sci-fi movie itself. Now, with a new 2025 movie release on the way, Timothée Chalamet is back in popcorn-bucket territory. The actor recently shared a first look at the upcoming Marty Supreme’s collectible container and, unsurprisingly, couldn’t resist referencing the infamous Dune 2 sandworm along the way.
Chalamet revived the bit via his Instagram stories, posting a side-by-side comparison that you can see below, labeled “How it started. How it’s going.” On the left sits the infamous Dune: Part Two bucket. On the right: a clean, bright-orange Marty Supreme popcorn container shaped like a ping pong ball.
Regal Cinemas announced a free Marty Supreme ping-pong ball popcorn bucket for Regal Crown Club members attending opening-weekend screenings. According to Regal’s official announcement, anyone who purchases a ticket to see the ping-pong drama flick at a participating Regal theater between December 25 and December 28 gets their hands on the orange ping pong–shaped bucket at no additional cost, while supplies last.
Marty Supreme stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, a table tennis prodigy navigating 1950s New York. Directed by Josh Safdie, the upcoming A24 film blends sports drama, character study and manic period energy, loosely inspired by real-life ping-pong champion Marty Reisman. Critics can’t stop talking about it, with many calling the Wonka star’s performance career-defining. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars in her first major screen role in years, adding another layer to what’s already shaping up as one of the most talked-about films of the year.
The reason that Dune bucket still looms so large is that even the people who made the movie couldn’t ignore it. During the Dune: Part Two press run last year, director Denis Villeneuve and the young star openly reacted to the bucket’s accidental notoriety in interviews. Villeneuve admitted that when he first saw it, his reaction was essentially disbelief, paired with the realization that, intentional or not, it had sparked massive online engagement. Chalamet, meanwhile, joked that he couldn’t tell whether the designer behind it felt wildly successful or deeply offended by the reaction.
Regal’s rollout also plays into the current arms race of collectible movie merch. Theater chains have leaned hard into novelty buckets and drink containers as incentives to get people back into seats, and Marty Supreme’s offering lands on the smart end of that spectrum. A giant ping-pong ball is weird enough to be memorable, yet still normal enough to avoid becoming a meme for the wrong reasons.
The Little Women actor sharing it spotlights the bucket, giving it a stamp of approval. Dune: Part Two gave us a popcorn container that will live forever in screenshots. In hindsight, the Dune: Part Two popcorn bucket didn’t hurt the movie at all. If anything, it became part of the release’s legend. But Marty Supreme seems determined to keep the focus on its story and that great style.
Timothée Chalamet has learned how to weaponize movie merch discourse. And if this is how he’s choosing to promote Marty, along with those amazing jackets everyone is trying to get their hands on, at least this time, the bucket is safe for work.
Marty Supreme hits theaters on December 25, 2025.
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