‘Jackass Forever’ Nabs $23.5 Million Weekend As ‘Moonfall’ Bombs

Two distinctly old-school, “used to be a big deal” kind of movies squared off over the weekend, with one clear victor. Jackass Forever topped the domestic box office with a decent $23.5 million. That’s a 2.44x weekend multiplier from a $9.6 million Friday, a multiplier on par with Jackass Number Two ($29 million from an $11.6 million Friday in 2006) and a raw opening on par with Jackass: The Movie ($22 million in 2002). There was hope that good reviews (an 85% fresh with 7.1/10 from Rotten Tomatoes), strong buzz (including a B+ from Cinemascore) and kind of generational coronation for the franchise would lead to a bigger number, but c’est la vie. A fourth Jackass movie opening with grosses on par with the first one is arguably a “successful disappointment,” or what arguably would have earned had it underwhelmed in non-Covid times.  

Maybe otherwise interested audiences stayed away due to Covid or the changing theatrical window. The more like answer is that Jackass Forever was never going to get anywhere near even Bad Grandpa ($32 million in 2013) let alone Jackass 3-D ($50 million in 2010). Still, you generally can’t spell “successful disappointment” without “success,” and we’re still talking about a $10 million comedy sequel that will likely finish with $55-$65 million domestic before having a decent post-theatrical afterlife. The theatrical industry has obviously 180-ed over the last decade, with the folks who once saw a movie just to see a movie opting for streaming. Jackass Forever must deal with a world where, even more so than in 2010 and 2013, audiences can catch up with the earlier four movies, watch old episodes of the show, or find their favorite sketches at the touch of a button. 

As implied above, if the Johnny Knoxville-led “legacy sequel” legs like its peers, we’re looking at a final domestic total between $55 million and $65 million. Bad Grandpa was unusually leggy in October 2013, earning $102 million from a $32 million debut. That would give Jackass Forever a $75 million finish, so we’ll see. The film played 68% male, 67% 18-34 and 59% Caucasian. While its success is obviously tied to the franchise (and yes, Knoxville and Steve-O are relatively “marquee characters” in this circumstance), Jackass Forever is still the biggest opening weekend for a straight-up (no action, fantasy or horror) live-action sequel since (if it counts) Hustlers ($33 million in September 2019) or (if it doesn’t) A Madea Family Funeral ($27 million in March 2019). Bitter irony that then next Madea flick is heading to Netflix at the end of this month.  

Alas Cosmopolis’ Moonfall crashed to Earth with a resounding thud. The independently financed $146 million disaster epic opened with just $10 million. Lionsgate is only on the hook for domestic distribution and marketing expenses and may yet make money from their cut, but we’ll see if any of the overseas distributors fare any better. That’s a decent 2.9x multiplier, but lousy reviews (40% rotten and 4.5/10 on Rotten Tomatoes) and a poor C+ Cinemascore grade means that the Halle Berry/Patrick Wilson flick is domestically doomed. Even the positive reviews argue that it’s “so bad it’s good,” which doesn’t help with general moviegoers who don’t spend movie theater time/money on ironic entertainment. See also: Snakes on a Plane in summer 2006. It’s a poor debut on par with The Core ($12 million in 2003, terrific movie by the way) and Dean Devlin’s Geostorm ($13 million in 2017). 

 A star-driven Roland Emmerich-helmed disaster flick would be a surefire A-level theatrical attraction. Independence Day ($817 million in 1996) stands alongside Terminator 2, Jurassic Park and Titanic as the definitive 90’s era global blockbuster. The Day After Tomorrow ($552 million in 2004) and 2012 ($769 million in 2009) were two of the four biggest-grossing live-action originals of the 2000’s alongside James Cameron’s Avatar ($2.8 billion in 2009) and Will Smith’s Hancock ($624 million in 2008). Nonetheless, it’s not like Emmerich has been on a winning streak. I’ll continue to argue that White House Down is the second-best Die Hard knock-off after Speed, and I’ll swear that The Patriot is at least as good as Gladiator. Alas, neither film was an acclaimed hit, and I cannot defend the likes of Godzilla, 10,000 BC or Independence Day Resurgence. Stargate and Universal Soldier were almost 30 years ago. 

More importantly, as noted yesterday, the mere promise of larger-than-life disaster spectacle was once enough to sell tickets. Marquee characters (Venom, Freddie Mercury, Michael Myers, etc.) are where it’s at, which is what most filmmakers mean when they lash out at the MCU or superhero movies. It wasn’t so long ago that a big-budget outer space adventure like Gravity, The Martian or even Passengers could pack them in. But Ad Astra suggests otherwise. In our current new streaming centric era, Moonfall needed more movie stars and better reviews. When Moonfall has lousy reviews, a C+ from Cinemascore and frankly often resembles the size and scale of a direct-to-VOD disaster flick, audiences can now rent The Core or seek out China’s disaster epic The Wandering Earth (which grossed $700 million in China in early 2019) on Netflix while they wait for Moonfall on PVOD or streaming.