I honestly am shocked at this. Jackass 2 is dominating the boxoffice this weekend. I just dont get it.
“Jackass: Number Two” was the number one film for the weekend, earning a staggering $28.1 million. The film only cost $11.5 million to make. “Jet Li’s Fearless” opened at #2 with $10.6 million. The film is being marketed as the final film that we’ll ever see Jet Li show off his martial arts skills.
I am truly stunned that this amateur shock crap gets a bigger boxoffice draw than a movie being slated as Jet Li’s last martial arts film, and a movie with a cast like Winslet, Hopper, Penn and Law (All the Kings Men). Flyboys, I was a little uncertain about but I honestly figured even THAT would draw more people than Jackass 2.
How is it in today’s market where top actors put forth their best and cant over come the market draw of some loser getting kicked in the junk on film.
Sigh.
their are enough stupid teenagers who enjoy this kind of bullshit that this movie was destined to make at least 25 mil. my only problem with it is now i have to listen to a bunch of stupid kids tell me how goo the thing is.
my little brother thought that the the fast and the furious tokyo drift AND the dukes of fucking hazard were GOOD MOVIES!
It’s a fun flick. Funnier than that “comedy” Talladega Nights, I’ll tell you.
Jackass Number Two is not a movie. Its being shown in theaters, but fits in no genre, nor could it be qualified as documentary or fiction since there are lots of planned and unplanned events. Jackass is what it is: a freak show preserved on digital video and presented to the masses.
I was worth every penny though. When an actual MOVIE offer that kind of screaming, laughing, crying, wincing reation, I’ll be impressed.
Rodney, take a chill pill, dude. It’s clear you’re taking this and other recent comments regarding your version of events WAY too personally, which is why I counseled you against it. If that’s something that you can’t do, then we’ll just have to agree to disagree. That’s the adult thing to do, not continue defending yourself even though I’ve said “no biggee.”
Yes, JACKASS 2 is its own little phenom. Deservedly.
Wow. I didn’t think this little post would get so much attention!
Personally, this doesn’t surprise me all that much and I can’t believe people are all that surprised at the box office results. Yes, I’m surprised that it made that much but I’m not surprised that it came in at number one. “All the King’s Men” doesn’t just look bad, it’s being killed by the reviewers. “Fearless”, regardless of being Jet Li’s ‘last martial arts film’ is still in the vein of all the other Martial Arts Chinese exports and to be honest, as much as I want to see it, I have a feeling the majority of the folks have had enough. As for “Flyboys”, meh. It just didn’t look all that good. Add the fact that there hasn’t been a comedy for a few weeks and there you go. $29M.
People go to the movies to be entertained. You know what you’re going to get with Jackass.
All the King’s Men is a toss up considering the terrible reviews it’s getting. 11% on Rotten Tomatoes
Edward Lee, I took it personal because it was. You cant attack someone’s integrity and then say “dont take it personal”
But furthermore, my integrity doesnt harm this site at all. I stick by what I say, and I express my opinions. An opinion cannot be wrong, it’s simply how I feel about the subject. You can disagree, and I encourage people to post about how they feel.
I dont have to “know the biz to understand the biz”
I dont care when they released this film, or that some marketting genius figured out that this would be the best time to do it. That means nothing to me. I am a movie buff, I enjoy movies, and this site is a bunch of guys yacking about movies.
Did I claim that my opinion is the ONLY opinion? No.
My integrity is intact, as is the reputation of this site. And this adult will continue to express his opinions.
Pat, no horses were used in the making of this opinion.
Its not an issue of being a snob, its an issue of being surprised that people would flock to the theatres to see a man deliberatly attach a leech to his eye.
I see no entertainment value in that.
‘Per screen average’ grossing is a liberal definition of success. The bottom line has been and will always be “the film cost X to make, and it’s theatrical gross is Y.” Honestly, drop the ‘per screen’ bullshit. It’s already been disproven that a small film on a gazillion screens dramatically reduces the profit margins.
Of course, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and THE ILLUSIONIST are traditional ‘art house’ films. Why aren’t they playing in huge release if they’re not arthouse films? It’s b/c the studios anticipated these films being big hits with smaller audiences, which they are. SUNSHINE is great, but I haven’t seen THE ILLUSIONIST.
And to Pat … maybe you should read LESS. Certainly, you might want to think about contributing LESS if you’re using all that time to read. Or maybe READ LESS and CONTRIBUTE MORE. Find a balance. It would certainly be good for your psyche, as it is for all.
Jay: I never said Jackass (or Fearless, for that matter) is “pushing out” the two films which have more of a box office take than Jackass PER SCREEN AVERAGE. I also don’t consider “Little Miss Sunshine” or “The Illusionist” ‘art house’ films.
I second that, Pat. I mean, please, who wasn’t expecting JACKASS to be number 1? Why is it a shock that people wanted to see the sequel to a hit instead of a universally panned political drama starring Sean Penn? Well, at least Rodney’s grammar, punctuation, and spelling are professional — something other “writers” on this site have maddening disregard for. I know it’s a blog and not hard news, but come on, learn that “it’s” is a CONTRACTION and NOT possessive! That’s not being a snob. That’s just having some semblance of standards for written language . . .
whoa there rodney,each to their own.
i enjoyed jackass and am looking forward to this and let mr knoxville do what he is good at.
A comedy is a comedy is a comedy. It’s purpose, imho, is to get you to laugh. The first Jackass, while uneven, made me laugh something scary when I first watched it in the theater. I’d say making Jackass funny is just as hard as “real” actors, as you call them, doing a funny performance in a regular comedy. There are plenty of other shows out there trying to recreate, or build on the Jackass formula. But to me non of them are close to as funny. Knoxville and CO are just very good at what they do, and I don’t understand how you can look down on them for that. With a 66/100 on metacritic (pretty awesome for a film of this kind) and this weekend’s box office, others agree with me too. Also, Jet Li’s movie did better than expected while Flyboys and All the Kings Men flopped just the same after horrid reviews and dreadful trailers. So, to conclude, good movies with decent marketing campaigns got awarded, while the rest floundered. Lets hope this trend continues.
Also, get down off your high horse. I’ve read every post on the movie blog from the start, and this is the one were the writer has come off the worse. “Snob – a: one who tends to rebuff, avoid, or ignore those regarded as inferior b : one who has an offensive air of superiority in matters of knowledge or taste”
Fine. Take it personal. But others have said before that your opinion affects the credibility of the site. Be an adult, live with the criticism, and keep typing. Say what you want, but integrity’s still important if you want credibility; I don’t think anyone is seriously interested in listening to a bunch of guys sitting around chirping about movies; after all, guys were heavily in the audience to JACKASS 2, by the way, which you’re kinda/sorta dismissing in your argument. Using your logic, we oughta be celebrating!
You don’t have to ‘KNOW’ the biz to understand the biz, which you didn’t appear to do in your post. Anyone could’ve predicted JACKASS 2 would’ve had pretty good numbers in September. As for a family crew filming people being stupid, well blogs give people this luxury in cyberspace, and look how popular they are. Allegedly, they’re influencing the course of politics. You wanna hang with a bunch of guys, then go and see JACKASS 2. You wanna blog with the best of ’em, then you sometimes have to THINK outside the box and not simply type in one.
Actually, this will not be Jet Lei’s last martial arts film. The reason it is being marketed that way, is because when you translate the type of film this is into english, it means Martial War. This will be the last War Epic of this style for Jet Lei. Plan to see him in many films to come which are like Unleashed and Black Mask.
Edward Lee, you comment that I should not take your comment personally then tell me that my commentary ruins the integrity of this site?
That sounds like a personal attack to me.
I am not surprised that the movie was made. It cost rediculously little to make. I cannot fathom where they found 11million to spend on that backyard cinema, but its about half of Jim Carrey’s show call.
My commentary was that it is really sad that “real” movies get beat by some idiot with a camera crew filming people being stupid. I am not a professional critic, and I am not a market analysist. This site’s integrity is based entirely on the fact that we are a pile of guys who love movies and have opinions, not some paid critics.
All I can say is Jackass 2 @ Number 1 = Idiocracy pWns Social Commentary.
Mike Judge lost the battle but won the war with this I think.
Im not surprised that Jackass came in #1 at all, even though the Jackass stuff is a bit dated its still funny as hell. Not that id pay 8 bucks to see it but im sure i will rent it. As for me i had it in my mind that The Departed came out this week so ill save my movie bucks for that one. Jet Li pics…yawn…ya ya the guy does some amazing things but still…yawn. All the kings men…maybe a renter, but i must comment on how they got some of the best british actors to be in a movie based in the south….kinda like when i saw Troy and they just recast everyone from Braveheart…o well i guess thats why they call it acting.
Darren, first off, it’s FREDO. And I should have attributed “snoozefest” to a quote I read in one of the Rotten Tomatoes reviews. To be honest, I’m not going to see Jackass 2, either. I actually saw “Last Kiss” over the weekend and, despite the poor reviews, enjoyed that film. I will see “All the King’s Men,” just when it comes out on DVD.
As for “Serenity,” I hated every minute of that film. I wanted desperately to like it, because all my fanboy nerd friends like it, but I didn’t like the characters or story. I just didn’t care. And despite the Sci-Fi channel hosting Battlestar Galatica, it felt like a hokey Sci-Fi channel movie with silly FX.
Just my two cents –
For me personally, I was greatly interested in both Flyboys and King’s Men until I rolled over to rottentomatoes last week. King’s Men was pulling 15%, and Flyboys was in the mid-20’s. That just about did it for me. Jackass 2, which I have zero interest in seeing, was at least in the 60’s.
I don’t always base my movie attendance on critics… if I really want to see it, I’ll see it. But 15%? Gonna have to trust the public opinion on that one. My time is precious.
Sorry, for the triple/doube writte post recovery. This thing is fucked.
Darren, as far as Serenity is concerned, it looks like people just weren’t interested in paying to see a FAILED TV SHOW on the big screen.
And if you think you can blame a movie like Jackass Two for the lack of attention given to indie films in theatres, maybe you should think twice about supporting the next blockbuster comic book film with it’s 3 screen per theatre 40 million dollar weekend.
You may find the idea of somebody paying money to watch ‘gross out stunts’ silly…but some people, including myself, also find the idea of starting an online petition to revive a failed science fiction tv series only to have it flop due to the lack of interest that killed it in the first place silly. But to each his own. I saw Jackass Two and LAUGHED and LAUGHED and LAUGHED. I would take Johnny Knoxville being hit by a bull over Joss Whedon’s ‘witty dialogue’ any day, but that’s just me. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be able to watch Little Miss Sunshine or The Science of Sleep on it’s opening weekend. But i guess we’ll just stick to blaming the movies YOU don’t like.
Jay C.
http://www.filmjunk.com
http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com
Darren, as far as Serenity is concerned, it looks like people just weren’t interested in paying to see a FAILED TV SHOW on the big screen.
And if you think you can blame a movie like Jackass Two for the lack of attention given to indie films in theatres, maybe you should think twice about supporting the next blockbuster comic book film with it’s 3 screen per theatre 40 million dollar weekend.
You may find the idea of somebody paying money to watch ‘gross out stunts’ silly…but some people, including myself, also find the idea of starting an online petition to revive a failed science fiction tv series only to have it flop due to the lack of interest that killed it in the first place silly. But to each his own. I saw Jackass Two and LAUGHED and LAUGHED and LAUGHED. I would take Johnny Knoxville being hit by a bull over Joss Whedon’s ‘witty dialogue’ any day, but that’s just me. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be able to watch Little Miss Sunshine or The Science of Sleep on it’s opening weekend. But i guess we’ll just stick to blaming the movies YOU don’t like.
Jay C.
http://www.filmjunk.com
http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com
Well Darren, I guess some people just weren’t interested in seeing a FAILED TV SHOW make the leap to the big screen either.
And if you think a film like Jackass Two is to blame for smaller art films being pushed out of theatres, maybe you should think twice about supporting any blockbuster comic book film that takes up three screens at the multiplex and draws 40 million dollar crowds. You’re starting to sound like the same art snobs that criticize such popcorn entertainment as simple kids stuff.
As much as you think it’s silly to pay money to watch people do gross out stunts, I think it’s ridiculous to start online petitions to revive failed science fiction television shows only to have them flop due to the same lack of interest that killed them in the first place. To each his own. I saw Jackass Two and LAUGHED and LAUGHED and LAUGHED, as i did during Serenity. But for different reasons. To each his own. As John always says, film is subjective! As is entertainment!
Jay C.
http://www.filmjunk.com
http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com
Frodo: if I read your comment right, you skipped seeing “All The King’s Men”?
If so, how would you know it was a snooze fest? Because the critics said so?
Fair enough.
Let’s see:
“You’re dying to hear about the gags involving body hair, fecal matter and horses, aren’t you? Oh, look, we’re running out of space! Some other time.” – Newsday
“You probably know by this stage of your life whether you’d like to see a man place a sock on something that rhymes with sock and introduce both into a snake’s den. But even if you find that funny (hell, I do), you probably don’t need to see a beer enema or several vomit scenes, one resulting from a turn in the ‘fart mask.'” – New York Post
“The images burn into the retina like the spots you get from staring at the sun.” -Orlando Sentenel
“It’s seems so pathetic and desperate” – Cinemablend.
Note, in fairness to you, Frodo:
Fearless carries a current 71% RT.
Jackass 2 is 60%
and.. All The King’s Men is 13% [!]
[“Little Miss Sunshine” is at 93%, “Illusionist” at 75%]
But even “Lassie” scored high—and the film vanished ’cause more folks were into Rin Tin Tin I ‘spose…
jackass 2 was funny but there was nothing as funny in that film as some of the accents in all the kings men..
Yes, let’s pay money to see a failed actor and his buddies do outrageous and gross out stunts. And folks, don’t give me this MTV support garbage. Support “Aeon Flux”, did you? “Save The Last Dance”? Non MTV films…Oh, this ‘generation’ supported “Serenity”. SURE.
THEY. DID. Turned out in record numbers, right? No. What was the film *last year* that beat it? “Flightplan”. FLIGHTPLAN! And, yes, while I liked that film and will always fawn over Jodie, “Serenity” deserved a better fate.
As I previously mentioned, two films are having a better per screen average than ‘Jackass’, even if due to limited screens, they linger near the bottom.
All I know is…months later I want no whiners asking where certian films are. When Oscar or Golden Globes come around I want to see nobody complaining how they didn’t get a chance to see some films.
Well, on the upside, I read that Jet Li’s already signed to headline JACKASS 3.
saw Jackass 2 this afternoon (after seeing Science Of Sleep, so don’t think we’re all yokels going to see this sequel). regardless of what you think of Jackass, All The King’s Men has been poorly marketed (it’s a november film, for christ’s sake). as for Fearless, lumping a martial arts film with Crouching Tiger for the thousandth time might not draw as many people as PR people might think. there was nothing special to the trailers, and i haven’t heard anything about it being Jet Li’s last martial arts film in the North American promos. also, why would americans care if it *was* Jet Li’s last martial arts film?
not knocking these two fine films. just pointing out the idiocy of the marketing machines who have been doing poor, horrible jobs for the past decade on a lot of films.
I know alot of people who would just as easily question the success of a comic book film if it were paired up against an a-list heavy drama. Not all entertainment is art, and not all art is entertaining. Jackass 2 falls into the first category, and it seems as though All the Kings Men falls into the second.
Jay C.
http://www.filmjunk.com
http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com
The opening of this movie and the big business of Little Miss Sunshine proves to me one thing; word of mouth is KING. It doesnt matter how much money you spend in advertising, if there is nothing for people to talk about to each other when they’re at work or with friends then it won’t do well. There is just some things which ignite interest when you talk about them and I guess it is a reflection of what our society has on their collective minds.
People are more intrested in seeing people in pain and wondering what extremes they will do next then watch any of those other movies, I for one would rather see Jackass 2.
This is about how much I projected it would make this weekend.
??
Again, Rodney, and don’t take this personal, voicing the opinion of your surprise only undercuts the site’s credibility. Movies are a numbers game, and, regardless of what you may think of Sean Penn and his “work,” he isn’t a draw with this season’s biggest movie-going demographic: young to young-adult males. You don’t have to look any farther than any studios stats to know that movies like JACKASS and even SERENITY (yes, Browncoats, you know who you are) are MADE for this late August / September / Early October demo. It’s just the nature of the beast.
Of course, a film like JACKASS 2 doing this well is alarming for any theatrical business, but the reality is this is what this season’s audience wants to see.
ALL THE KING’S MEN has been shelved for over two years. The studio execs asked for something like three or four different cuts before they had one they could agree was worth releasing, and then they dump it in September? Of course, they had no faith in it, and, based on critical reaction and box office take, they (for once) knew they had a stinker on their hands.
FLYBOYS looks like a brainless summer actioner. (Sorry, that’s how it looks.) Again, no surprise. Had it come out over the summer, it may’ve performed stronger, but I seriously doubt it would’ve been a serious contender.
Again, not a personal attack, just an open expression of honesty.
Hey, I’m not surprised at all that Jackass killed at the box office. I was never a fan of the show, but I’d be lying if I stated that I never laughed at some of their stuff. The thing is, people want to sit down and be entertained by stupidity after a long week at work. The movie also hits the “Frat Boys” crowd as well.
I saw Fearless over the weekend and I loved it. However, I can see why it disappointed a lot of people, since it’s a story about anti-violence and unity. It’s like listening to a 2 hour lecture from my martial arts instructor, rather than sitting down to watch people get kicked around (although a lot of that happens as well).
JACKASS 2…
I’m going to see it, THAT SHIT LOOKS FUCKING FUNNY, and no i do not what to see ALL THE KINGS MEN , that looks boring as shit, don;t care who is in it. so this week i’m seeng it. ok later
Jarrod-D
Oh, come on. You think a bunch of 18 year olds would rather see a snooze-fest like “All the King’s Men” (which got shat on by post critics) than “Jackass 2” where they know they’ll laugh?
There is NOTHING Knoxville did that anyone couldnt do (its more an issue of WOULD DO there)
Very few people can do what Li does.
Big difference
Someone gets a leech to the eye and its entertainment. Truly a sad statement of what entertains the MTV Generation.
Jackass 3. Knoxville shits his pants and frames it. After getting a senior citizen to lick it.
Because this movie rocks. Either you get it or you don’t, I haven’t seen anyone in-between. And how is Knoxville not putting forth his best effort? He’s doing 10x physically what Jet Li is doing. Johnny is invincible in this movie.
Why are candid video shows still around and AFV…the US loves it, teenagers love it…we all love it…Fearless is the same god damned movie that Jet Li has made for years…if there was a jackass 50 we wouldnt see it right away either…plus most of the die hard martial arts/asain movie fans have seen fearless.
p.s. fearless isnt that great anyway
Rodney I think that jackass number two acctually had better reviews then any other movie, flyboys and all the kings men got some really really awful ones, that opened this weekend haven’t seen any for fearless so can’t comment on that one though. And the MTV generation is at it’s prime now, so for me it ain’t a shocker. And hey if Spike Jonze wants to produce this then I’m definatly going to see it.
That’s a very good question, Rod. I suppose some would attribute “All The King’s Men” not doing well due to production problems and/or postponed release dates (last year, last spring)…but when I look at the BO performance of the recent “Hollywoodland” I’m in shock. Everyone I have talked to or read says this role Ben Affleck is in is his best in his career to date. But the nationwide theatres are empty. Last week, Brian DePalma’s film, “Black Deliha” opened. Empty seats. The Rock/Dwayne Johnson’s “Gridiron Gang”- the part that makes him *look* like an actor, falls in ticket sales despite a good opening last week.
But let’s look at this another way.
“Illusionist” and “Sunshine” play in less theatre screens than most of the other pix, and have a BIGGER per screen average that ‘Jackass’ or ‘Fearless’.
So are people really losing taste?
Besides…next week…we got “Open Season” (animated), “School For Scoundrels” (Jon Heder/Billy Bob Thornton) and “Guardian”- “Jackass 2” won’t be around too much longer.
Then again, I also thought a few months back that “Little Man” would’nt stick around as long as it did.
I just saw it. My face hurts from laughing so hard. Get over it =)