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There's something unsettling happening at the movie theaters lately.
最近电影院发生了一些令人不安的事情。
People aren't going to the movies like they used to. Box office numbers are way down from their prepandemic levels. Some of this summer's big releases didn't do as well as expected.
人们不再像以前那样去看电影了。票房数字远低于疫情前的水平。今年夏天上映的一些大片表现不如预期。
On top of that, last year's Hollywood labor strikes mean there are fewer movies in the pipeline than normal.
除此之外，去年好莱坞的工人罢工意味着正在筹备的电影数量比平时少。
These famous film characters are upset. But out of these dark, uncertain times for Hollywood, a possible hero is emerging - something that movie theater chains are hoping will get more dollars flowing into local megaplexes.
这些著名的电影角色很沮丧。但在好莱坞的黑暗、不确定时期，一位可能的英雄正在出现——连锁电影院希望这能为当地的大型影院带来更多资金。
This potential savior - a novelty popcorn bucket. That is right. Maybe you've seen one of these popcorn buckets that looks like Wolverine's head, for instance, for the new "Deadpool & Wolverine" movie coming out this week.
这个救星就是一个新奇的爆米花桶。没错。也许你已经见过一个看起来像金刚狼头的爆米花桶，例如，在本周上映的新电影《死侍与金刚狼》中。
Or maybe you've seen the infamous sandworm bucket that was released for the "Dune: Part Two" movie this spring. "Saturday Night Live" actually did a whole song about it.
或者你也许见过今年春天为《沙丘：第二部》电影发布的臭名昭著的沙虫桶。《周六夜现场》实际上为此写了一首歌。
This is THE INDICATOR FROM PLANET MONEY. I'm Wailin Wong. And I'm Adrian Ma.
这里是THE INDICATOR FROM PLANET MONEY。我是Wailin Wong。我是Adrian Ma。
Movie theaters make most of their money by selling two things - movie tickets and food. Now, they're getting to the business of collectible merchandise.
电影院通过出售两样东西赚钱——电影票和食物。现在，他们开始涉足收藏品业务。
Today on the show, we track the rise of the popcorn bucket - from its prepandemic origins to its afterlife in the resell market.
在本节目中，我们追踪爆米花桶的兴起——从疫情前的起源到后期的转售市场。
Nels Storm is a classically trained French chef. But these days, he's not making bouillabaisses and cassoulets because, I mean, for starters, those things might be kind of hard to serve in a movie theater.
Nels Storm是一位受过传统训练的法国厨师。但如今，他不再制作法式海鲜汤和砂锅菜，因为首先，这些东西在电影院可能有点难上手。
And Nels cares a lot about that because he's actually vice president of food and beverage strategy for AMC Theaters.
Nels非常关心这一点，因为他实际上是AMC Theaters的食品和饮料战略副总裁。
So things like an overstuffed burrito present challenges. A chopped salad - very difficult to eat at the movies. We do sell a chopped salad or have in the past in the dining world.
因此，像塞得满满的墨西哥卷饼这样的东西带来了挑战。切碎的沙拉在电影院很不方便吃。我们确实有卖切碎沙拉，或者过去在餐饮界也有卖。
We have it in a bowl that, you know, instead of leaning over, you can kind of bring it to your mouth.
我们把它放在碗里，不用靠在碗上，就可以把它送到嘴里。
Honestly, what a time to be alive. You can eat a chopped salad at the movies, Adrian.
说实话，活着真好。你可以在电影院吃切碎沙拉，Adrian。
But, you know, concessions have evolved way past popcorn and candy and soda. Some places, you can even get dinner and cocktails.
但是特许经营已经远远超越了爆米花、糖果和汽水。在一些地方，你甚至可以买到晚餐和鸡尾酒。
And movie theaters want to sell you more than just the ticket and snacks these days. Nels also oversees merchandise for AMC.
如今，电影院想卖给你的不仅仅是电影票和零食。Nels还负责AMC的商品。
And in the last few years, that's meant souvenir popcorn buckets as tie-ins with major releases.
而在过去几年里，这意味着纪念爆米花桶作为主要发行的搭配。
Now, these are not disposable paper tubs with the logo printed on them. No. These are solid, usually plastic objects, and they're often in the shape of something related to the movie, like a hot pink Corvette convertible in the case of last year's "Barbie" movie.
现在，这些不是印有徽标的一次性纸桶。不是。它们是固体的，通常是塑料物体，它们的形状通常与电影有关，比如去年《芭比》中的粉红色克尔维特敞篷车。
Nels says a lot of these vessels, as the industry calls them, are basically movie props that you can put popcorn in. Maybe.
Nels说，很多这样的容器（业内称之为“容器”）基本上都是电影道具，可以装爆米花。也许吧。
Yes, it has to hold popcorn, but it's not - we're not designing around a tub. We're designing popcorn into a really cool prop in many cases.
是的，它必须装爆米花，但事实并非如此——我们不是围绕着一个桶来设计的。在许多情况下，我们将爆米花设计成非常酷的道具。
We want our guests to see this piece in our social feed and just run - not walk - to the theater to get it.
我们希望我们的客人在我们的社交帖子中看到这个作品，然后跑到电影院去买。
'Cause in the movie business, it's all about opening weekend. And it's the same for these popcorn containers. Nels says AMC aims to sell out of the buckets during the film's first weekend.
因为在电影行业，首映周末才是最重要的。这些爆米花容器也是如此。Nels说，AMC的目标是在电影上映的第一个周末就把桶卖光。
That maximizes the hype around the release, and it ensures theaters aren't stuck with a whole inventory of unsold buckets when the next blockbuster lands.
这最大限度地提高了上映时的炒作效果，并确保电影院在下一部大片上映时不会出现一大堆未售出的桶。
We want to make sure to make every "Despicable Me 4" guest happy, and then move on to "A Quiet Place: Day One," and then move on to "Twisters," and then move on to "Deadpool & Wolverine." And so we want to keep the wheels turning.
我们希望确保让每一位《神偷奶爸4》的观众都满意，然后继续看《寂静之地：第一天》，然后继续看《龙卷风》，然后继续看《死侍与金刚狼》。
AMC's first big popcorn bucket was for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" in 2019. The company released a bucket in the shape of R2-D2, the lovable, round droid.
AMC的第一个大型爆米花桶是2019年为《星球大战：天行者崛起》制作的。该公司发布了一个形状像R2-D2的桶，这是一个可爱的圆形机器人。
Nels says AMC drew on the expertise of Disney, which, of course, owns "Star Wars."
Nels说，AMC借鉴了迪士尼的专业知识，当然，迪士尼拥有《星球大战》。
But Disney also has a long track record of selling collectible souvenir popcorn buckets at its theme parks. The R2-D2 buckets were priced at 50 bucks a piece, and they sold out opening night.
但迪士尼在其主题公园出售收藏品纪念品爆米花桶也有很长的历史。R2-D2桶的售价为每只50美元，首映之夜就销售一空。
We believed it was going to be something huge. And then, of course, the world stopped turning, and we had to take a pause.
我们相信这将是一个巨大的成功。然后，当然，世界停止了转动，我们不得不停下来。
AMC's next popcorn bucket wouldn't come until 2021, with the release of "Ghostbusters: Afterlife."
AMC的下一个爆米花桶要到2021年才会推出，届时《超能敢死队》将上映。
Other movie theater chains like Regal and Cinemark are also selling souvenir popcorn containers.
其他连锁影院，如Regal和Cinemark也在销售纪念品爆米花容器。
For "Despicable Me," Regal came out - did you see this, Adrian? It's a popcorn bucket that looks like a baby carrier with straps that go over your shoulder. This frees up both hands.
Regal为《神偷奶爸》推出了这款爆米花桶——Adrian，你看到了吗？这是一个爆米花桶，看起来像一个婴儿背带，肩带可以挂在肩膀上。这样可以解放双手。
It allows you to do the selfie while you're eating your popcorn. And then, despite this trend, these novelty objects are still a small part of the movie theater business.
它让你可以在吃爆米花的同时自拍。尽管有这种趋势，但这些新奇物品仍然只是电影院业务的一小部分。
In 2023, merchandise sales totaled $54 million for AMC, and that is just 3% of the total food and beverage revenues for the year.
2023 年，AMC的商品销售额总计5400万美元，这仅占当年食品和饮料总收入的3%。
But these collectibles are increasingly an important part of the competition between movie theaters.
但这些收藏品越来越成为电影院竞争的重要组成部分。
And this is because the chains are battling over a smaller pool of customers. Alicia Reese analyzes publicly traded media and entertainment companies for the firm Wedbush Securities.
这是因为连锁影院正在争夺较小的客户群。艾丽西娅·里斯（Alicia Reese）为韦德布什证券公司分析上市媒体和娱乐公司。
Alicia estimates that box office revenues in North America are down 40% from prepandemic levels.
艾丽西娅估计，北美的票房收入比疫情前下降了40%。
Moviegoers are pickier now about what they want to see in the theaters. But Alicia says, when people do venture out, they're willing to spend.
现在，电影观众对他们想在电影院看什么更挑剔了。但艾丽西娅说，当人们真的出去时，他们愿意花钱。
One of the things that we've seen postpandemic that's been really interesting is people are increasingly buying premium tickets.
我们看到疫情后真正有趣的事情之一是，人们越来越多地购买高级票。
People are going to see movies on IMAX screens or on other premium, large-format screens. They're also spending more on concessions.
人们会在IMAX屏幕或其他高级大屏幕看电影。他们也在特许经营上花费更多。
Spending more on concessions is good for the theaters because the profit margin on food and beverage is really high - 80-plus percent, according to Alicia. She says the popcorn buckets are helping boost concession revenues even more.
在特许经营上花费更多对影院来说是好事，因为食品和饮料的利润率非常高——据艾丽西娅说，利润率超过80%。她说，爆米花桶有助于进一步提高特许经营收入。
And these collectible containers are aimed at the movie fans. These are the people who are hyped to buy a ticket on opening day for a big, new release - what the industry calls a tentpole film. Theaters want those diehards to open up their wallets.
这些可收藏的容器是针对电影迷的。这些人在电影首映日就大肆宣传，购买新上映的大片（业内称之为大片）。影院希望这些铁杆粉丝打开钱包。
When there's a movie that hits really well, they're maximizing that. The large, tentpole movies, especially ones that people have been looking forward to for a long period of time - that's really where you can upsell.
当一部电影大获成功时，影院会最大限度地利用这一点。大片，尤其是人们期待已久的电影——才是真正可以追加销售的地方。
Now, we've seen from history that when there's a pop culture collectible, a secondary market will follow.
纵观历史，当流行文化收藏品出现时，二级市场就会随之而来。
And that is definitely the case for these souvenir popcorn buckets. There's a whole economy of resellers flipping these things for a profit.
这些纪念品爆米花桶肯定就是这种情况。转售商倒卖这些东西以赚取利润，形成了一个完整的经济体系。
My name is Marcus Vaso (ph). I'm a reseller on eBay with the company I've created called Bucket Banditz - with a Z.
我叫Marcus Vaso，是eBay上的转售商，我创立了一家名为Bucket Banditz的公司。
Marcus got into the bucket resale game at the behest of a friend. He spent $75 on three buckets for "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse," and his friend put them on eBay.
Marcus在朋友的要求下进入了转售桶行业。他花了75美元买了三个《蜘蛛侠：纵横宇宙》的桶，他的朋友把它们放在eBay上。
And, like, in three days, he brought me back, like, $300. I was like, wait - what just happened? You mean people are willing to pay this much for this?
三天后，他给我带回了大约300美元。我当时想，等等——刚才发生了什么？你的意思是人们愿意为这个付这么多钱？
They are. It turns out people are routinely willing to pay two or three times the retail price of a popcorn bucket.
确实如此。事实证明，人们通常愿意支付爆米花桶零售价的两到三倍。
Now, when there are new releases, Marcus and his team will fan out and buy up dozens of containers.
现在，每当有新货发布时，Marcus及其团队就会分散开来，买下几十个容器。
Yeah. For example, you remember the "Dune" sandworm bucket, bucket, bucket we were talking about earlier?
例如，你还记得我们之前谈论的沙虫桶吗？
Well, Marcus says demand for those things was really high, and he bought 130 of them for about 25 bucks a piece. And he says he was able to resell one of them for as much as $99.
Marcus说这些东西的需求量真的很高，他以每件约25美元的价格买了130个。他说他能够以高达99美元的价格转售其中一个。
It went viral, so we kind of got that world audience. It was cool, you know, shipping things off to South Africa, the Netherlands. Yeah. It's awesome as well, too.
它迅速走红，所以我们获得了全球观众。把东西运到南非、荷兰是很酷的。是的。这也很棒。
And just like in the primary market, the selling window for these buckets is short. Marcus puts it at two weekends.
就像在一级市场一样，这些桶的销售窗口很短。Marcus认为是两个周末。
So if he bets big on a container for a movie that flops, well, let's just say that they're still trying to offload a couple of buckets for "The Garfield Movie" that came out in May.
所以如果他押注一部失败的电影的桶，那么，我们只能说他们仍在试图出售5月份上映的《加菲猫》的几个桶。
I didn't even know there was a Garfield movie. So that's the problem in a nutshell, Adrian. People took to this movie like Garfield takes to Mondays.
我甚至不知道有一部加菲猫电影。所以这就是问题所在，Adrian。人们对这部电影的喜爱程度就像加菲猫对星期一的喜爱程度一样。
Meanwhile, back at AMC, Nels Storm says there's even more movie merchandise coming.
与此同时，在AMC，Nels Storm说，还有更多的电影商品即将推出。
The company's rolling out hundreds of souvenir kiosks at its locations that'll sell things like keychains and posters.
该公司正在其门店推出数百个纪念品亭，出售钥匙链和海报等商品。
And, Nels says, there's also an opportunity to sell popcorn buckets for theatrical rereleases of classic movies, as long as the Hollywood studios are on board.
而且，Nels说，只要好莱坞电影公司愿意，还可以通过出售经典电影的影院重映版爆米花桶。
I'd love to - you know, if we re-release "Caddyshack," you can bet we'd have gophers and golf bags and all the fun things happening - 100%.
我很乐意，如果我们重新发行《疯狂高尔夫》，你可以打赌，我们会有地鼠和高尔夫球袋，还有所有有趣的事情发生——100%。
Adrian, if you could turn a movie prop from your favorite movie into a collectible popcorn bucket, what would it be? My first answer would be "Zoolander."
Adrian，如果你能把你最喜欢的电影中的道具变成一个可收藏的爆米花桶，你会选择什么？我的第一个答案是《超级名模》。
