Paramount’s latest iteration of spoofs, gross-out slapstick and painful stunts dreamed up by Johnny Knoxville and his merry pranksters debuted by raking in a cool US$23.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations estimated.
Twenty years on from its first silver screen release, the franchise has managed to retain some relevance with its fifth instalment, and successfully defied Hollywood trends to sneak a pure comedy film – one made for just $10 million, no less – into the number one spot.
“It’s extremely hard to keep it fresh and funny for this long, but Jackass is doing that. Reviews are outstanding (at this point they are usually poor),” said David A Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research.
“Moonfall” came in at number two, with a modest US$10 million take.
The Lionsgate sci-fi disaster flick directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Halle Berry revolves around the rather far-fetched scenario that bits of the Moon are tumbling down onto Earth.
Slipping to third was “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” whose spectacular run of late – the best in the Covid era – has slowed. Its US$9.6 million in sales brought the Sony/Marvel superhero film to a total of US$749 million in domestic sales, placing it fourth all-time.
Paramount’s latest chapter in the “Scream” franchise dropped to fourth place, grossing US$4.7 million. As in the horror flick’s 1996 original, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette again star.
Fifth spot was claimed by Universal’s animated musical “Sing 2,” which took in US$4.2 million. Its all-star voice cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey, Pharrell Williams and Bono.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
- “The King’s Man” (US$1.2 million)
- “Redeeming Love” (US$1 million)
- “American Underdog” (US$800,000)
- “The 355” (US$700,000)
- “The Lion and the Wolf” (US$675,000)