“Gladiator II” popcorn bucket goes viral and escalates concession wars over novelties

The popcorn bucket wars are heating up, and they're getting downright extreme… with “Gladiator II” now leading the butter charge.

Here's the crux of the truth… the elaborate popcorn bucket for the Gladiator sequel just dropped… it's a crazy design that involves freaking augmented reality — and it's leaving social media users in awe.

The impressive snack container for “G2” is a miniature coliseum with a QR code… that when activated shows gladiators fighting inside!

A source tells TMZ … the buckets will be available at Cinemark locations worldwide on opening weekend – and that includes theaters in Rome … like Meta!

The great popcorn bucket wars began when the Dune 2 bucket went viral…for all the wrong reasons…namely compared to a body part.

After that… wild bucket designs went to the races… including one for “Deadpool and Wolverine“…which of course segued into the 'D2' bucket shame.

Since then, there have been a lot of buckets that have been well received by fans…like a Ghostbusters trap bucket…and since they are limited offerings, the various buckets can cost a lot of money on the secondary market.