Add shortage of movie popcorn to nation’s woes

(KTLA) — Hollywood has been popping champagne corks over the success of Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun” sequel, which raked in the most Memorial Day weekend box-office bucks ever.

But there’s a new problem looming: a shortage of movie popcorn and other pricy snacks.

Operators of movie theaters were reportedly nervous at the recent CinemaCon industry confab about being able to stock their concession stands for the summer and holiday moviegoing seasons, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“Popcorn supply will be tight,” Norm Krug, chief executive of Preferred Popcorn, a supplier of kernels to theater chains, told the paper.

And it’s not just popcorn. Supply disruptions are also creating shortages of buckets and bags for popcorn, not to mention cups for drinks, trays for nachos and other necessities.

This is obviously a major concern for theater operators, who rely on concession-stand sales for much of their livelihood.

“It’s a mess,” one theater owner told the Journal.

For now, the popcorn problem hasn’t affected most consumers. But that could change if behind-the-scenes supply woes continue, suppliers said.