There was no showdown between the two major new releases this week, withJackass Foreverpulling way ahead of fellow debutantMoonfall—in fact, the slapstick comedy film ended up increasing the margin afterSaturday estimates.Jackass Forevermade $23.5 million from 3,604 locations, more than doubling its reported $10 million budget for what is shaping up to be Paramount’s second theatrical success of the year.
DirectorRoland Emmerich’sMoonfallended up having a closer fight for the number two spot with holdover hitSpider-Man: No Way Home. The disaster film finished the weekend on the lower end of Saturday’s $10 million to $12 million estimates, with $10.1 million across three days.No Way Homefollowed close behind with $9.6 million.
This is only the second time in eight weeks of release thatNo Way Homehas surrendered the top spot. And the last time it happened (two weeks ago, whenScreamdebuted with $35 million) it swiftly reclaimed the number one position on the very next weekend.Jackass Forever’s strong debut validates Paramount’s decision to stick to a theater-only release for the film, having established that franchise titles are still pulling dedicated fans—the struggling studio had previously tasted similar success with bothA Quiet Place Part IIand theScreamreboot.
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It’s been over 10 years since the last main entry in the Jackass series was released, and it really seems likeJackass 3Dis a relic of a bygone era, back when a mask was something you’d only wear on Halloween (or if you were robbing a bank), and when studios were still cashing in on the 3D craze. By comparison, the thirdJackassmovie cost twice as much asJackass Forever, and made more than $50 million in its opening weekend.
Jackass Forever’s success proves that the same set-up can be repeated as long as the punchline is fresh. But the same logic doesn’t apply toMoonfall, which is betting hard on foreign audiences after tanking domestically.
Once the king of big-budget disaster films, Emmerich has now directed six commercial under-performers in a row—Anonymous,White House Down,Stonewall,Independence Day: Resurgence, andMidway.Moonfall’s disappointing debut suggests that audiences are more interested in paying to watch a silver-hairedJohnny Knoxvilletake on a bull than a mess of CGI action glued together with a cartoonish premise.
Speaking of which,No Way Homeis now just $11.1 million shy of overtakingJames Cameron’sAvatarto become the third-highest grossing film of all time. The Sony superhero film, which unites three generations of Spider-Man stars, made $9.6 million this weekend for a third-place finish, taking its domestic total to nearly $750 million. Internationally, the film has made over $1.7 billion, and that’s without a China release.
At number four, Paramount’sScreammade $4.7 million, taking its domestic total to nearly $69 million. That’s a fine result for the fifth film in a franchise that was thought to have lost the audience after the fourth entry. And the studio’s happiness at its success was reflected in the recentconfirmation of aScream 6, which will also be directed by this film’sMatt Bettinelli-OlpinandTyler Gillett.
Universal’sSing 2, which is still playing in over 3,200 theaters, made $4.1 million this weekend, despite being available to rent digitally. The animated sequel has now made nearly $140 million domestically, making it the highest-grossing cartoon movie of the pandemic era.
Next weekend will have three major new releases duking it out at the box office.Kenneth Branagh, whose semi-autobiographicalBelfastis poised to score nods at this week’s Oscar nominations, will see the release ofDeath on the Nile, a follow-up to his 2017 hitMurder on the Orient Express. Meanwhile,Jennifer Lopez-starrerMarry MeandLiam Neeson’sBlacklightwill compete for the attention of separate demographics.
