Jackass Forever, the fourth main installment in the long-running franchise was a big box office success in its opening weekend. Johnny Knoxville, Chris Pontius, Stevo-O, and the rest of the Jackass gang returned to cinemas after 12 years for another round of daredevil hi-jinks. Prior to its release, it was uncertain whether Jackass‘s premise of grown men intentionally hurting themselves had run its course and if there was still an audience for this type of comedy on the big screen. With Jackass Forever opening above expectations, its success speaks for itself.
Comedies, in general, have struggled at the box office in recent years, with studios more concerned with superheroes and establishing shared universes wherever they can. Comedies have retreated to the relative financial safety of television and streaming services such as Netflix and HBO Max (ironic given that Jackass started as a television show that evolved into a movie series). But this deficiency in the marketplace worked in Jackass Forever‘s favor, with its loyal fanbase and ability to attract new fans making the movie a must-see cinematic experience.
Jackass started out as a reality comedy series for MTV, running for three seasons between 2000-2002. When the show finished, the team produced Jackass: The Movie (2002), which was meant to conclude the franchise and be their farewell to the fans. Four years later though Jackass Number Two was released, followed by Jackass 3D in 2010. While there was talk of a fourth Jackass film, it took 12 years for it to become a reality (Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa was released in the interim, but is a spin-off from the main series). Jackass Forever earned positive reviews and opened at no. 1 at the box office, showing that the series is still as popular as ever despite the franchise being over 20 years old at this point.
How Much Jackass Forever Cost & How Much It’s Made At The Box Office
Jackass Forever had a very modest price tag of $10 million. This is comparable to the other Jackass movies, which historically don’t cost a lot to produce given the simple nature of the premise. In its opening weekend at the domestic box office, the movie earned $23.1 million, more than doubling its budget (not including marketing costs and distribution) in only three days. Showing at 3,604 theatres, it had a per-screen average of $6,250 and earned an additional $5.2 million from nine overseas markets. While the stunt-heavy Jackass Forever was always expected to be the number one movie on its opening weekend, it still exceeded industry expectations of a $15 million opening. Jackass Forever also faced competition from the week’s other new release, the disaster movie Moonfall. That movie though was a disaster in more ways than one, only grossing $9.8 million against a whopping estimated $138-$146 million budget.
Why Jackass Forever Is A Box Office Success
Jackass Forever‘s box office success is a combination of factors. Nostalgia can’t be underestimated, as long-time fans of the series didn’t want to miss the chance to see the gang back together on the big screen after so many years. Jackass Forever also brought in its fair share of new fans as well. Johnny Knoxville has been doing the publicity rounds for the movie, including some WWE appearances that trended on social media. His efforts worked, with 67% of Jackass Forever‘s weekend audience being between 18-34 years old, meaning that some of them wouldn’t have even been born when the Jackass show originally aired.
Jackass Forever also benefited from being exclusive to cinemas, with no streaming or digital purchase option such as the controversial Warner Bros./HBO Max deal for their 2021 slate of movies. Additionally, with the two-year anniversary of COVID restrictions coming up, Jackass Forever appealed to audiences who may well have just wanted to forget about the real world troubles and laugh at stupidly funny stunts for 96 minutes. Finally, a key reason for Jackass Forever‘s box office success is its good reviews. It received the best critical reception of all the Jackass movies, with an 85% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
How Jackass Forever’s Box Office Compares To Previous Jackass Movies
All the Jackass movies have been well received by the fans and been financially successful. Notwithstanding this, while Jackass Forever‘s box office opening was very good in comparison to its budget, it was on the lower end when compared to the other Jackass movies. Jackass: The Movie (2002) cost $5 million to make, and opened to $22.8 million domestically. In the end, it made $79.5 million worldwide by the end of its run. 2006’s Jackass Number Two had an increased budget of £11.5 million and saw its opening weekend increase to $29 million domestically. Its final domestic gross was $72 million, and $84.6 million worldwide.
Jackass 3D (2010) is the highest-grossing movie in the Jackass series. From a budget of $20 million, the movie opened to $50.4 million (with 90% of that coming from 3D showings). It ended up with $117.2 million domestically and $171.6 million worldwide. Spin-off movie Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa was another good success for the franchise. With a $15 million budget, it made $32 million (domestic) on its opening weekend and finished with $102 million domestically and $151 million worldwide. Taking into account inflation, the previous Jackass movies have performed better than Jackass Forever. Still, with COVID still hampering the box office, Jackass Forever wasn’t expected to reach those historic numbers. Add in the age of the franchise, its low budget, and steller reviews and Jackass Forever can still be labeled a great success.
Jackass Forever’s Box Office Is Good News For Jackass 5
For any other franchise, the critical and box office success enjoyed by Jackass Forever would usually result in a quick greenlighting of another installment. Jackass‘s movies have followed a different path, however, with gaps of four years in between the first three Jackass movies, and 12 years after that for Jackass Forever. The original gang is also now getting on in years considering the physical demands and risks inherent in any Jackass movie. There is only so much punishment that they can take before the original Jackass cast sustains an injury they can’t recover from. Still, Jackass Forever made the good creative decision to bring on some fresh blood to the ranks, with “Poopies” (Sean McInerney) being the stand out of the new stunt performers. Even if this is the end for Johnny Knoxville and the rest of the original cast members, Jackass 5 could still be on the cards down the line.
