Popcorn buckets: why Cameron, Burton and Gunn approve them

Hollywood is taking popcorn buckets seriously now, so seriously that even the filmmakers themselves are getting involved in their creation. Some of the biggest directors in the business are personally weighing in on what these collectibles should look like.

James Cameron, Tim Burton and James Gunn are shaping popcorn buckets for their films

James Cameron demanded final approval over the popcorn bucket for Avatar: Fire and Ash. Tim Burton was involved in developing the shrunken head drink cup for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, to make sure it matched the look of his movie.

James Gunn even had a popcorn bucket designer visit him on the set of Man of Tomorrow to discuss ideas for the next Superman film.

Popcorn bucket designs can start a year or more before a movie opens

These aren't designs somebody comes up with a few weeks before a movie opens. The companies making them often start working on them a year or more in advance. They collaborate with the studios and theater chains to figure out what they can turn into a collectible.

One company says it sometimes comes up with as many as 50 different ideas for a single movie before settling on what to make.

Snap Creative's Bill Howard had to surrender his phone to read a Universal script

Perhaps the most ridiculous example involves a designer named Bill Howard, who runs a company called Snap Creative. He was invited to the Universal lot to read the screenplay for an upcoming movie.

Before he could read it, he had to surrender his phone and sign a nondisclosure agreement. Then he was given a copy of the script and 90 minutes to read it by himself, taking notes on what he thought would make a good popcorn bucket.

Theaters were once reluctant to sell novelty cups over cup holder worries

That's quite a change from just a few years ago, when movie theaters were reluctant to sell these things because they worried the drink cups wouldn't fit in the cup holders. Now you've got some of the biggest filmmakers in Hollywood personally weighing in on what these things should look like.