Tom Cruise can maintain a thriving movie career even after jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s couch and, you know, that whole Scientology thing. So it might not be a huge surprise that he’s wearing another hat now: popcorn bucket designer.
According to Time Magazine, Cruise was part of the creative process of making this object for Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning. Considering that AMC made $54 million from the sale of “collectible concession vessels” in 2023 (and $0 in 2018), that’s a great idea. Regal Cinemas head of business development, Matt Willard, told Time that the Barbie movie was what got them in the popcorn bucket-making game.
If you’re curious about Cruise’s contribution, it sounds like it was a positive experience. AMC’s director of food and beverage product strategy, Rob Bennett, said, “We nailed it.”
Between the Transformers One popcorn bucket and the, um, unique look of Dune 2‘s, popcorn buckets have made heading to the local movie theater even more compelling. Back in the day, aka when I was a kid, the most exciting thing about popcorn was the globs of butter you could ask for. Maybe, if you were lucky, you could get some chocolate or candy and mix that in. Now that was living. Nowadays, kids and kids-at-heart can look forward to a new release and a (hopefully) cool and artistic popcorn bucket.
Since Cruise doesn’t use stunt actors and Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning is the swan song to the franchise, it makes sense that he would want to be involved in the full experience of saying goodbye. In 2021, he explained why he was attracted to the action franchise, saying, “I wanted something that was going to be very commercial, potentially, but I wanted something that was going to be artistically challenging.” And while some actors would say they already have a packed schedule and couldn’t fit in one more task, Cruise thrives on having a lot to do. He told Fandango that he “works seven days a week” and “I enjoy the pressure, I do enjoy the challenge, but I realize — I woke up, and I enjoy this.”
With more people curling up on the couch at home to watch movies via streaming and fewer butts in movie theater seats, it’s a no-brainer for companies to try to make as much money as they possibly can. The Zinc Group vice president of business development, Rod Mason, told Yahoo! Entertainment “We started it” and movie theaters purchase the popcorn buckets from them. Mason explained that movie theaters want people to purchase popcorn buckets on opening weekend.
It’s a big deal that Cruise is helping with the design since it sounds like most of the time, that’s not common practice. Marcus Gonzalez, the Zinc Group creative director, told Vulture that if actors are also a movie’s executive producer, they have discussions about what the object looks like. Gonzalez said, “Sometimes they have very strong opinions, so you follow suit.” Mason told Vulture that if a director or actor’s resemblance is on the popcorn bucket, “they get the final say.”
Of course, everyone wants to know what the Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning popcorn bucket looks like, especially now that Cruise’s involvement has been made public. Unfortunately, it’ll be a bit of a wait, as the movie premieres on May 23, 2025. Chances are it will be worth it!
Published: Dec 2, 2024 02:00 pm