The Monkey's Popcorn Bucket Is Perfectly Creepy — And Approved By Stephen King Himself

Movie merchandising has taken many forms over the years. Gone is the heyday of every major release receiving a novelization, board game, apparel, toy line, and so on. Now, with the exception of the biggest blockbusters aimed at the widest demographic possible, films are merchandised in a much more bespoke fashion — they can have any number of tie-in products or none at all, whatever the studio deems fit. This allows each piece of merchandise to feel a little bit more special, making a potential purchase feel like you're buying a bit of the film and not just some mass-marketed tie-in product.

Yet the popcorn bucket has somehow become a new staple of movie merchandising. At first, this seemed to be because a couple of tie-in buckets (okay, I'll just say it — the one for "Dune: Part Two") appeared to be able to double as, ahem, a marital aid. Fortunately, that joke was all but put to rest by the meme-baiting "Deadpool & Wolverine" bucket, but that didn't stop the popcorn bucket's rise to power. Now, as with the especially unsettling "Terrifier 3" popcorn bucket, the tie-in items are getting a bit more creative and a lot more creepy. The latest example of this is the tie-in bucket for "The Monkey," which is, unsurprisingly, a replica of the title character. 

Official popcorn bucket for THE MONKEY. Available at AMC Theaters now.⁰
*Stephen King not included. pic.twitter.com/KYdxQ4JQ0F

— NEON (@neonrated) February 20, 2025

Like the technically impartial but suspiciously malevolent toy in the film itself, the "Monkey" popcorn bucket is both a blessing and a curse. It's a perfectly creepy, clever, and — as evidenced by this tweet that NEON posted today — Stephen King-approved bit of merchandise. However, it all but ensures that the curse of popcorn bucket tie-ins is here to stay.

Even when films adapted from his work aren't made by so-called masters of horror, King seems — with a couple of notable exceptions — very enthused to support big-screen adaptations of his work. This is in large part because King is a bonafide arts and media fan, something that Constant Readers know as well as anyone who used to peruse his pop culture column in Entertainment Weekly magazine entitled "The Pop of King," which he published from July 2003 to January 2011.

One installment of the column in particular may help explain why King seems so happy to have his very own "Monkey" popcorn bucket. Sure, the bucket is a faithful replica of the movie prop, even though the monkey's drum is way bigger than in the film — it has to fit at least an AMC Theater's regular-sized popcorn in there, after all. Yet King may just appreciate how sturdy and leak-free the bucket is, given the fact that he described his movie popcorn habits in the July 27th, 2008 installment of his column as being quite messy:

"If the counter guy puts on the glandular butter substitute himself, I watch carefully to make sure he greases the middle of the bag as well as the top layer. If it's self-serve (at the beginning I didn't like this option, but now I do), I proceed to hammer on that red button until I have what I call a 'heavy bag.' You know you have a heavy bag when the bottom starts to sag and ooze large drops of a yellow puslike substance before you even get into the theater. [...] With a 'heavy bag,' caution is a must. Don't put it on your lap; when the movie's over and the lights come up, people will think you wet your pants. Courtesy is also a must. Don't put it on the seat beside you, or the next person is going to sit on a seat that oozes. Not cool, bro."

Now, with his "Monkey" popcorn bucket in hand, King can pour gallons of popcorn butter substitute into his large corn without ever worrying about leaks, drips, or seepage. He can also maybe bring about the deaths of people around him at random, if this bucket is imbued with the same "Like Life" powers the movie monkey is. In any case, don't let Stephen King have all the fun — you can buy your very own "Monkey" popcorn bucket at an AMC right now! Unless they're all sold out, in which case, you should just hope that those keys on their back don't actually work.