- Jackass 3D box office: Directed by Jeff Tremaine and starring Johnny Knoxville, this record-breaking (or sorts) Paramount Pictures release provides further evidence that domestic audiences are craving creative, quality fare.
- In other domestic box office news, Robert Schwentke’s humorous actioner RED had an okay – though better-than-expected – debut. In the veteran cast: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich, among others.
Jackass 3D box office: Johnny Knoxville comedy provides further evidence that audiences are hungry for original, quality cinema
Oct. 15–17 weekend box office: Movies are better than ever. Just ask Paramount Pictures, which has been around (in various forms) since 1912.
Here’s their evidence: The Paramount-distributed Jackass 3D has officially had the biggest October opening ever (not adjusted for inflation) in North America (U.S. and Canada only), grossing $50.4 million from 3,081 theaters (including Thursday midnight screenings) according to final studio figures found at boxofficemojo.com.
Directed by Jeff Tremaine and starring Johnny Knoxville, the latter’s latest idiocy fest (31 percent[1] approval rating among Rotten Tomatoes’ “top critics”) opened $20–$25 million above pundits’ early estimates. Also worth noting, Box Office Mojo says that 3D showings accounted for 90 percent of the weekend gross.
Icing on the cake: If its reported $20 million price tag (as always, not including marketing and distribution expenses) is accurate, Jackass 3D earned 2.5 times its production budget on one single weekend.
Is the end of times nigh?
Well, whenever it comes, it won’t be a moment too soon.
Jackass 3D vs. previous two big-screen jackasses
For comparison’s sake: Boosted by 3D surcharges, Jackass 3D averaged $16,228 per theater. Back in 2006, Jackass Number Two (budget: $11.5 million) earned $29 million (in 2D, lower ticket costs), averaging $9,480; in 2002, Jackass: The Movie (budget: $5 million) pulled in $22.8 million (also in 2D, even lower ticket costs), averaging $9,072.
Jackass Number Two went on to gross $72 million in the domestic market; Jackass: The Movie reached $64 million. Neither title did well at all outside the United States – $11.9 million and $15.2 million, respectively (though several key territories are missing from the tally) – as non-Americans apparently prefer their braindead entertainment packaged differently. Indeed, to date Jackass has remained a strictly all-American imbecility phenomenon.
Scary Movie 3 sold more tickets
Now, bear in mind that the previous October record holder in the domestic market, David Zucker’s Scary Movie 3 (in 2D, lower ticket costs), took in $48.1 million back in 2003. And that means Zucker’s paean to intellectualism remains ahead of Jackass 3D in attendance terms.
Having said that, the inevitable Jackass Four (Take It Up Your…) could easily open north of $100 million. That is, if they take the trouble to add odorama to the proceedings so Jackass fans can smell the farts.
Besides Johnny Knoxville, Jackass 3D features Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Steve-O, and Dave England, in addition to cameos by the likes of actor Seann William Scott and Oscar-nominated director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, 1999), who happens to be one of the movie’s producers (along with Knoxville and Tremaine).
Bigger international hit than expected
Update: Johnny Knoxville’s Jackass 3D ultimately collected $117.2 million domestically and a better-than-expected $54.5 million (likely incomplete) internationally. Worldwide total: $171.7 million. In other words, the lowbrow comedy was a hugely profitable hit.
Its top international markets were Australia ($9.9 million), the United Kingdom/Ireland ($8.9 million), Germany ($7.2 million), Russia/CIS ($4.4 million), France ($3.8 million), the Netherlands ($2.9 million), and Italy ($2.1 million).
Curiously, Jackass 3D bombed in Mexico ($623,000) and Brazil ($512,000). The South Korean figure is clearly incomplete ($1,847), while Japan is not on the Box Office Mojo list.
RED box office: Old-timers’ showcase is no. 2
At a distant no. 2 this past weekend, Robert Schwentke’s comedy-actioner RED scored $21.8 million – an okay figure that is actually stronger than what some had been expecting. Yet chances are this Summit Entertainment release will have trouble recovering its $58 million budget at the domestic box office.
In the mostly over-50 cast: Bruce Willis, Oscar winners Helen Mirren (The Queen, 2006) and Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby, 2004), Oscar nominee John Malkovich (also seen in last weekend’s box office disappointment Secretariat), and Mary-Louise Parker, in addition to Karl Urban, Rebecca Pidgeon, Brian Cox, Julian McMahon, James Remar, and Oscar-winning veterans Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl, 1977) and Ernest Borgnine (Marty, 1955).
Update: RED ultimately collected a less than stellar $90.4 million domestically and a surprisingly strong $108.6 million internationally. Worldwide total: A profitable $199 million.
Rounding out the Top Five
For the record, rounding out the Top Five movies on this past weekend’s box office chart were:
- At no. 3, David Fincher’s Facebook drama The Social Network grossed $10.3 million (down 33 percent on its third weekend). Total: $62.4 million. Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake.
- At no. 4, Randall Wallace’s period racehorse drama Secretariat grossed $9.3 million (down a modest 27 percent on its second weekend). Total: $27.3 million. Cast: Diane Lane and John Malkovich.
- At no. 5, Greg Berlanti’s romantic comedy Life as We Know It grossed $9 million (down 38 percent on its second weekend). Total: $28.6 million. Cast: Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, and Josh Lucas.
“Jackass 3D Box Office: Idiotizing Comedy (Sorta) Breaks Record” notes
Updated Rotten Tomatoes rating
[1] Jackass 3D’s current (September 2022) approval rating among Rotten Tomatoes’ “top critics” stands at a far higher – but still mediocre – 55 percent.
Unless otherwise noted, “Jackass 3D Box Office: Idiotizing Comedy (Sorta) Breaks Record” box office information via Box Office Mojo. Budget info – which should be taken with a grain of salt – via BOM and/or other sources (e.g., the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Screen Daily, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline.com, etc.).
Comments about Jackass 3D, RED, and other titles being hits/profitable or flops/money-losers at the box office (see paragraph below) are based on the available data about their production budget, additional marketing and distribution expenses (as a general rule of thumb, around 50 percent of the production cost), and worldwide gross (as a general rule of thumb when it comes to the Hollywood studios, around 50–55 percent of the domestic gross and 40 percent of the international gross go to the distributing/producing companies).
Note: Data regarding rebates, domestic and international sales/pre-sales, and other credits and/or contractual details that help to alleviate/split production costs and apportion revenues are oftentimes unavailable, and that reported international grosses may be incomplete (i.e., not every territory is fully – or even partially – accounted for).
Also: Ancillary revenues (domestic/global television rights, home video sales, streaming, merchandising, etc.) can represent anywhere between 40–70 percent of a movie’s total take. However, these revenues and their apportionment are only infrequently made public.
Johnny Knoxville Jackass 3D image: Paramount Pictures.
Ernest Borgnine and Bruce Willis RED image: Frank Masi | Summit Entertainment.
“Jackass 3D Box Office: Idiotizing Comedy (Sorta) Breaks Record” last modified in October 2023.