There was nothing gross about the opening of Jackass Forever at the box office.
The R-rated movie took in a better-than-expected $23.5 million from 3,604 theaters to mark a triumphant return to the big screen for prankster king Johnny Knoxville and his crew.
Jackass Forever, costing a mere $10 million to make, is the second box office win — and profit generator — for Paramount following January’s Scream.
Paramount Pictures, MTV Entertainment and Dick Productions decided to revive Knoxville’s slapstick, gross-out comedy franchise after a 12-year hiatus from the big screen. Jackass Forever is purportedly the last film in the franchise.
Critics loved Jackass Forever, as did younger moviegoers and especially younger males. Three-quarters of all ticket buyers were under the age of 35, including 67 percent between ages 18 and 34, while 68 percent of the audience were males. The movie currently sports an 85 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes (a few days ago, it was 90 percent).
Top markets that over-indexed included Los Angeles — where nine of the top 10 theaters were — Phoenix, Sacramento, Denver, San Diego, Las Vegas, Portland OR, Fresno, Albuquerque, El Paso, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee. Top markets that under-indexed included New York and Dallas (both were storm related), Washington D.C., Atlanta, Orlando and Miami.
Heading into the weekend, the film had been tracking to open in the mid-teens.
Like many other franchise installments, Jackass Forever still couldn’t match the opening of the last film in the franchise, Jackass 3D, due to the ongoing pandemic. Jackass 3D debuted to $50 million.
Jackass Forever, which reunites many original crew members, stars Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, Preston Lacy, Sean “Poopies” McInerney, Zach Holmes, Eric Manaka and Rachel Wolfson. (There are also numerous cameos.)
The Motion Picture Association’s rating board slapped Jackass Forever with an R for “strong crude material and dangerous stunts, graphic nudity and language throughout.”
Overseas, the pic opened to $5.2 million from its first nine markets for an early global start of $28.7 million. The U.K. led with a strong $2.8 million.
The big news internationally was China, where the Lunar New Year holiday saw box office revenue soar to record levels, with The Battle at Lake Changjin II grossing $153.5 million alone, according to Comscore. Too Cool to Kill followed with $111.5 million.
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter
‘Jackass Forever’ Gets Last Laugh With $23.5M Opening
