‘Barbie’ fans enraged over AMC’s $65 popcorn bucket: ‘Insane’
Life in plastic is fantastic — if you can afford it.
At AMC theaters, movie-goers can purchase a “Barbie”-inspired popcorn bundle complete with a doll and her dream car — the iconic bubblegum Corvette, as seen in the film — for a whopping $65.
Barbie fans bristled at the hefty price tag, slamming the theater chain for driving up the collectible’s price.
“Hop in and zoom around Barbie Land!” reads the description of the exclusive convertible, which acts as a popcorn vessel. “This collectible Barbie car popcorn container recreates the iconic pink Corvette seen in Barbie The Movie.”
“With a curvy silhouette and retro trims, the vintage-inspired convertible is a piece of art on four wheels!” it continued.
On Twitter, AMC Theaters elicited a less-than-enthusiastic reaction from Mattel fans. While some applauded the doll-sized Corvette for its sheer cuteness, others said they “cannot justify purchasing this.”
“$65 really? That is insane. With that price, allow unlimited refills all year,” quipped one annoyed user.
“$65?! Y’all have issues lol,” tweeted another baffled person.
“Are you joking with that price?” asked someone else.
“$65 for popcorn and a barbie car is wild,” chided another.
One simply put: “$65?! Holy s–t!”
Barbie dolls range in price depending on the season, outfits and more, but the figurine from the “Barbie” flick, which was released on Friday in theaters, goes for just under $25.
But the Greta Gerwig film has inspired more than just plastic dolls — fans and brands alike have taken Barbiecore to new heights.
Some are throwing watch parties drenched in pink couture and touting blond hair extensions, while others have fashioned their homes into a Malibu dream house to mimic the titular character.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated movie premiere, “Barbie” was already a summer box office record-breaker, raking in $22.3 million for previews alone.
The Warner Bros. picture even out-performed Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster, “Oppenheimer,” which was released in theaters the same day.
Aptly titled “Barbenheimer,” the double-feature frenzy has sent film nerds in a spiral.
The premieres inspired memes, t-shirts, mock movie posters and “Barbenheimer” event itineraries as audiences weighed which film they would view first.
But AMC’s costly collectible isn’t the first time the “Barbie” movie has caught some flack.
Critics slammed Ryan Gosling for being “too old” to play Ken, while the child-like drawing of the Barbies’ world map drummed up controversy overseas and, as a result, was banned from Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the movie has been panned as too “woke” by some commentators due to its feminist underpinnings of women empowerment and discourse on patriarchy — despite a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Gerwig, who has directed blockbusters such as “Little Women” and “Lady Bird,” has been applauded for exploring the complex topics of femininity and womanhood in her films — and this Mattel-inspired piece is seemingly no exception.
“‘Lady Bird’ feels like someone telling you, ‘We’re going to get through this experience together.’ “Same with ‘Little Women’ — it feels like a hug,” Margot Robbie, who plays “Stereotypical Barbie,” previously told USA Today.
“It seems fitting and almost inevitable that the Barbie movie would feel that way,” she continued. “We can look at something that’s complicated and spiky, and not be mean-spirited and cynical. This movie is brimming with optimism, and maybe people weren’t expecting that from a Barbie movie.”
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