“Jackass Forever,” the return of Johnny Knoxville and company’s absurd and R-rated prank and stunt show to the big screen, brought in $1.65 million at the box office in its Thursday box office previews from approximately 2,650 locations and screenings starting at 7:00 p.m. It opens on approximately 3,590 screens this weekend.
Paramount and MTV Entertainment’s “Jackass Forever” kicks off February and what is hopefully the start of signs of more life at the box office, and it also opens alongside another studio film, Lionsgate’s release of “Moonfall,” a disaster epic from Roland Emmerich.
“Moonfall” in its Thursday previews managed to bring in $700,000 from around 2,300 locations.
The early total for “Jackass Forever” was hampered when just under 300 locations were closed on Thursday due to the major snow storms that moved through the Midwest and on into the northeast, though most of those theaters, if not all, are expected to be back open for the weekend.
“Jackass” is projected by the studio for an opening in the mid-teens, though it could reach the $20 million range, all against a budget of just $10 million. Meanwhile, “Moonfall” is projected in the $10-12 million range in its opening weekend, which has a massive budget but was independently financed by deals via Emmerich’s Centropolis Entertainment.
For a comparison, Lionsgate also released Emmerich’s “Midway” in November 2019, which grossed $925,000 in previews before opening to No. 1 at the box office with a $17.8 million opening.
Jeff Tremaine directs “Jackass Forever,” which stars much of the old crew, including Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, Preston Lacy, Sean “Poopies” McInerney, Zach Holmes and Eric Manaka. And the new film also introduces two new members, including Jasper and Rachel Wolfson. The film aims to top some of the most wildly absurd and hilarious stunts of its predecessors, including the MTV series and the three prior movies.
“Moonfall” is directed by Roland Emmerich and stars Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry and John Bradley in a movie about a mysterious force that knocks the moon out of its orbit and sends it on a collision course with the Earth unless a NASA executive, a former astronaut and a conspiracy theorist can save the day.
