Cinemark Just Revealed Its Wild Version of the ‘Resident Evil’ Popcorn Bucket, and It’s Not for the Squeamish

Movie theater popcorn buckets have become their own strange corner of pop culture in recent years, with chains competing to design the most elaborate, most collectible, and occasionally most unhinged snack containers imaginable. With Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’ reboot just weeks away from hitting theaters, the marketing machine behind it was always going to lean into that trend, and the results have not disappointed.

The film follows Bryan, played by Austin Abrams, a medical courier making a delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital when an outbreak forces him into a nonstop fight for survival. That setup gives the movie’s promotional merchandise a much more specific and disturbing throughline than a generic zombie-themed bucket ever could.

Cinemark has now unveiled its own take on the film’s collectible, and it’s exactly as unsettling as fans could have hoped. Rather than a traditional popcorn tub, the item is a soft-sided medical courier bag designed to resemble an organ-transplant cooler, complete with a shoulder strap, a green first-aid-branded exterior, a white medical cross, and a noticeable spray of red across the front.

According to Cinemark’s official shop listing, the bag holds a hefty 200 ounces and is limited to a maximum of three units per customer given its limited-edition status. Constructed from polyester with a PU coating along with EPE foam and PEVA lining, the bag measures roughly 9.5 by 6.25 by 6.75 inches and is hand-wash only, positioning it as a genuinely functional accessory rather than a disposable novelty.

The design doesn’t stop at general medical horror imagery, either. Longtime players of Capcom’s survival horror games have pointed out that the bag’s look closely echoes the “Insert First Aid Kit” box from the ‘Resident Evil’ remake, giving the collectible an extra layer of recognition for fans who’ve spent years staring at that exact icon inside the games’ item boxes.

Cinemark isn’t alone in rolling out its own version of the bag. AMC is calling its take the Critical Cargo Bag as part of its “Thrills & Chills” promotion, with availability beginning September 17 and gourmet popcorn excluded from the deal, while additional fees apply for online orders. Regal, meanwhile, is selling its version under the name Resident Evil Organ Transplant Popcorn Bag, which comes bundled with a large popcorn starting on the film’s release day.

Cinemark’s version has already hit stores ahead of the movie’s wide release, giving eager collectors first crack at the item before the film even opens. None of the three major chains have announced an official price for their respective bags, and all are being treated strictly as in-theater exclusives available only while supplies last.

That kind of scarcity has already fueled plenty of online chatter, with some fans specifically calling out the bags’ promotional copy for going out of its way to clarify that the collectible does not come with an actual beating heart, despite images making it look uncomfortably close to one nestled among the popcorn. It’s the kind of dark humor that fits neatly alongside the film’s medical-horror premise rather than shying away from it.

With ‘Resident Evil’ set to hit theaters September 18, these organ-transplant-themed popcorn bags are likely just the beginning of the film’s promotional rollout, and given how quickly similar horror-themed buckets have sold out in the past, fans hoping to grab one might not want to wait too long. Whether or not the movie itself lives up to the hype, it’s clear the marketing team behind it fully understood the assignment when it came to embracing the franchise’s gruesome sensibilities.

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