The Nightmare Before Christmas returned to theaters October 2, and it comes with a light-up Jack Skellington popcorn bucket. AMC started selling it that day along with an exclusive Jack and Sally blanket, and Regal, Cinemark, and Harkins are carrying the bucket too.
The Jack Skellington Bucket
The bucket is Jack’s head wearing the Santa hat he puts on as Sandy Claws. The hat lifts off to get to the popcorn, and a switch lights up his face. It holds 85 ounces and measures 9 by 10.5 by 11 inches, and at AMC it comes filled with popcorn.
Marcus Theatres already sells the bucket on its online store for $35.99, and the Swan Drive-In in Blue Ridge, Georgia, has it for $35.95 and is shipping now. AMC’s graphic doesn’t list a price. AMC says its collectibles are “available in theatres only while supplies last.” Marcus notes that online sales are final and the bucket does not earn membership points.
About the Rerelease
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is the 1993 stop-motion musical directed by Henry Selick, in which Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town and tries to bring Christmas home. The rerelease runs 1 hour 16 minutes and is rated PG.
When the Movie Opens at Each Chain
- AMC: October 2, with the bucket and the blanket
- Regal: October 2. Regal pairs it with a different family movie each weekend as the matinee in its 31 Screams on Screen series.
- Cinemark: October 16
- Harkins: October 23, as part of its Fright Nights series, which runs October 2 through November 1 and also brings back Corpse Bride, Casper, and Hotel Transylvania
AMC and Cinemark have advance tickets on sale now, and Harkins lists its showtimes as coming soon.
AMC’s Jack and Sally Blanket
AMC also has the Simply Meant to Be blanket, an AMC exclusive. It’s double-sided, with Sally’s patchwork dress on one side and Jack’s black-and-white pinstripes on the other. AMC’s fine print says gourmet popcorn is excluded from the bucket and AMC Stubs upgrades don’t apply.
More Nightmare Before Christmas This Season
Mezco Toyz has 10-inch LDD Presents dolls of Jack Skellington and Sally on preorder at $60 each, shipping April to June 2027, in my story on the dolls.
Jack is everywhere this Halloween. At Disneyland, he takes over Haunted Mansion Holiday as Santa Jack, and this year’s gingerbread house is a music box more than 10 feet tall. In Tokyo, Tim Burton’s Labyrinth opens November 25 with rooms of Burton’s sets, sculptures, and original sketches. In the lobby of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, the Spiral Hill Confectionery display has Jack in his Sandy Claws suit, made of sugar. Oogie Boogie gets a $70 Monster High Skullector doll on October 29. On October 25, The Simpsons open Treehouse of Horror XXXVII with a stop-motion version of the film, with Bart as Jack. The movie streams on Disney+, and my kids’ Halloween movies guide has where the other classics are. Freeform airs the movie six more times during its 31 Nights of Halloween: October 10, 16, 18, 22, 28, and 31.
The bucket also joins a busy season for horror popcorn buckets, including Cinemark’s $39.95 Jason bucket and Regal’s Insidious demon-head bucket.
