In the battle of new movies with titles that bring to mind butts, Jackass Forever decisively beats Moonfall.
Back in the late 90s, a group of skaters achieved underground popularity by releasing a series of videos that, among other things, showed them participating in painful-looking stunts and pranks. At the same time, the producers of a prominent skateboarding magazine also achieved underground popularity by releasing a series of videos that, among other things, showed people participating in painful-looking stunts and pranks. Rather than compete, the magazine's editor, Jeff Tremaine, decided that both groups should join forces. The result would be Jackass, a show that would come to dominate MTV programming, even after it ended production, thanks to the bevy of spin-offs. In 2002, the Johnny Knoxville-headed franchise would head to the movies, where it would open at #1, and eventually gross $64.3 million. The two sequels would do even better, as would 2013's spin-off, Bad Grandpa. But after that film, the franchise largely went dormant...until now
Jackass Forever, the first straight-up Jackass movie since 2011, opened easily at #1, taking in a solid $23.2 million. If that's only slightly more than what the first film made on its opening weekend nearly 20 years ago, well, in this environment, where any film not named Spider-Man is struggling to reach the box office heights of the days of old, no one is going to complain that much. Indeed, even if the film turns out to be the lowest-grossing of the series (a distinct possibility, as the film will need to nearly triple its opening to beat the first film's $64.3 million), it will still be very profitable and will undoubtedly attract eyeballs for years to come when it eventually shows up on Paramount Plus.
Not fairing so well was Roland Emmerich's expensive sci-fi disaster film Moonfall, which could only come up with $9.9 million to debut in second. The thriller, starring Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson, attracted a bevy of "So bad it's good!" reviews, which actually might allow it to have slightly more staying power than Jackass. Still, this is going to lose a ton of money, unless it breaks out overseas.
After spending all but one weekend since its pre-Christmas opening at #1, Spider-Man: No Way Home finally begins to come back toward Earth, taking in $9.5 million in its 8th weekend. That brings Spidey's gross to $748.9 million. While $800 million might still be doable, it seems likely to run out of swinging room somewhere around $780 million, which would still leave it in third all-time.
Scream, the one movie that was able to knock off Spidey, if only for one weekend, came in fourth, scaring up $4.8 million. It, like Jackass, is a low-budget, profitable revival of a long-dormant franchise released by Paramount. Its now at $69 million, and seems likely to top out north of $80 million.
Sing 2 continues to stick around, taking in $4.2 million for a total of $139.6 million. Also sticking around is fellow Christmas week opener The King's Men, whose leggy run has been quite surprising. It earned $1.2 million for a total of $35.9 million. Christian drama Redeeming Love was able to redeem $1 million worth of moviegoers, for a total of $8.1 million.
Finishing in the Top 10, but below a million for the weekend were American Underdog, The 355, and Licorice Pizza, the highest remaining Oscar nominee on the charts other than Visual Effects nominee Spider-Man. Their totals stand at $25.9 million, $14.2 million, and $12.7 million, respectively.
Opening wide in 11th was Canadian family adventure The Wolf and the Lion, which could only muster $0.6 million after getting almost no promotion.
Other newly-minted Oscar nominees that are still charting include West Side Story, at $36.7 million, House of Gucci, at $53.5 million, Encanto, at $94.2 million, Nightmare Alley, at $10.8 million, Belfast, at $7.5 million, Parallel Mothers, at $1.3 million, The Worst Person in the World, at $0.1 million, Drive My Car, at $0.9 million, Dune, at $107.7 million, Flee, at $0.3 million, and King Richard, at $14.9 million. Will any of them take advantage of their nominations and climb up the charts in the coming weeks? I can definitely see Drive My Car picking up some decent cash, and The Worst Person in the World should also see its finances improve.
For the last decade or so, Hollywood has largely treated Super Bowl weekend as a dumping ground. However, that was when the game was played on the first weekend of February, and not the second, right before Valentine's Day, as it will be going forward. So for the first time in years, the studios are directly taking on the big game with three major releases, all vying for #1. Death on the Nile is Best Director nominee Kenneth Branagh's follow-up to his surprise blockbuster Murder on the Orient Express, as Branagh reprises his role as Agatha Christie's detective Herclue Poirot, once again investigating a murder aboard a stylish mode of transportation, with an all-star lineup of potential victims and/or villains, including Gal Gadot, Annette Bening, and...um...Armie Hammer (the film was shot well before the allegations against him came to light--indeed, it was shot a full year before Belfast). Meanwhile, going for the Valentine audience is Marry Me, a romcom starring the once and future queen of the genre, Jennifer Lopez, as a J-Lo-like pop diva who, after being dumped by her fiancée, spontaneously marries a random concertgoer (Owen Wilson). This looks like a cross between classic 90s romcoms Green Card and Notting Hill, though if it's anywhere as good as either of those remains to be seen. Universal is hedging its bets by also offering it up for streaming on Peacock. Finally, Blacklight is the latest of Liam Neeson's Old Man of Action thrillers, as he plays a government agent forced to go on the run after uncovering a deadly secret. Will Death find life at the top? Will America say I do to Marry Me? Or will Jackass continue to kick ass while the Bengals hopefully kick ass as well? We'll find out next week.
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