The boys of “Jackass” are coming back to the big screen.
Almost 20 years after “Jackass” debuted on MTV and about 18 years after the first film hit theaters back in 2002, Paramount has given the fourth film in the franchise a release date of March 5, 2021 (via Deadline). There’s no word yet on which “Jackass” stars will return, but we have to imagine that Johnny Knoxville will once again lead his troupe of guys who revel in throwing themselves into terribly uncomfortable and often dangerous situations.
For those wondering why the world needs a fourth film, well all you have to do is look at the box office performance of the franchise to see the answer. The first “Jackass” film opened in 2002, sporting a modest $5 million budget and went on to earn $80 million worldwide. Fast forward to 2010 and the third film, with an inflated $20 million budget (thanks to the introduction of 3D technology), went on to earn more than $171 million worldwide. Again, this is a decade ago, when the foreign box office market was a fraction of what it is now. I mean, if “Jackass” can take off in China, who knows how high a fourth film could soar?
The budget for the fourth film was not revealed, but you can’t expect that it will cost much more than $20 million (in fact, it’s likely less than that given the franchise’s lack of pop culture relevance in the past decade). So, for Paramount, “Jackass 4” is a no-brainer.
There have been rumblings about the fourth film for years, with Knoxville, producer Spike Jonze, and director Jeff Tremaine keeping the discussion active. However, after the sudden death of one of the stars, Ryan Dunn, in 2011, there have been questions about whether or not this will ever come together, despite interest from those involved.
Well, the question has been answered — “Jackass” is coming back.