Paramount’s “Jackass Forever” has taken over the top spot at the box office with a $23.5 million opening weekend from 3,604 locations, joining “Scream” as the second Paramount film to open to No. 1 in 2022.
The return of the irreverent MTV stunt series has opened well below the $50 million start earned by “Jackass 3D” in 2010, though that was to be expected given the ongoing impact of the pandemic on most box office receipts. As with pretty much every film that has found box office success this past year despite the adversity, “Jackass Forever” has relied on turnout from younger male audiences with theaters in Los Angeles accounting for 27 of the top 40 highest grossing locations.
“Jackass Forever” also has something that its predecessors did not: strong word of mouth. Along with a B+ on CinemaScore, it sports the highest Rotten Tomatoes critics score ever in the series with 87%. How much that can help this film is unclear, as there’s not much to “Jackass Forever” beyond what is seen in the marketing. Either audiences are interested in watching a bunch of ridiculous stunts or they are not.
Regardless, Paramount now has two low-budget box office hits in the past month, as “Jackass Forever” sports a production budget of just $10 million. The film will run in theaters for 45 days before being released on Paramount+.
In second is Lionsgate’s “Moonfall,” the latest disaster film from Roland Emmerich which opened to $10 million from 3,446 theaters. Prior to the film’s release, Lionsgate said that $10 million was the benchmark it was hoping to clear for profitability as the studio is only covering distribution and marketing costs for the film while its $138 million production budget was independently financed by Emmerich via sales deals.
“Moonfall” has received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, receiving a 42% Rotten Tomatoes critics score and a C+ on CinemaScore.
Just behind “Moonfall” is Sony/Marvel’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with $9.6 million in its eighth weekend, giving it a total of $748 million. The Marvel blockbuster is showing the kind of legs that only a precious few winter tentpoles have ever shown, and this week it is set to pass the $760 million domestic total earned by “Avatar” in early 2010.
“Scream” is in fourth with $4.7 million in its fourth weekend, giving it a domestic total of just under $69 million. Universal/Illumination’s “Sing 2” completes the Top 5 with $4.1 million, giving it a total of $139 million after seven weekends.
Elsewhere in limited release, Neon set the Norwegian Oscar contender “The Worst Person in the World” for a four-screen release, grossing $135,042 for a solid per theater average of $33,760. It is the third largest average for any film released since theaters reopened behind only “Licorice Pizza” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Directed by Joachim Trier and starring Renate Reinsve, the romantic comedy-drama has earned critical acclaim and is expected to be nominated for the Best International Film Oscar on Tuesday.