LOS ANGELES – Johnny Knoxville and his pals pulled another prank on Hollywood as their sequel of crazy stunts, “Jackass: Number Two,” beat a rush of serious movies to take the top spot at the weekend box office.
Paramount’s “Jackass: Number Two” debuted with $28.1 million, with Focus Features’ “Jet Li’s Fearless,” featuring the martial-arts master in a saga set in China a century ago, opening in second place with $10.6 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The weekend’s other new wide releases debuted weakly, with MGM’s World War I tale “Flyboys” opening at No. 4 with $6 million and Sean Penn’s political drama “All the King’s Men” from Sony premiering at No. 7 with $3.8 million.
Based on the MTV show that featured Knoxville and his gang doing reckless stunts and dares, “Jackass: Number Two” outstripped the opening weekend of 2002’s “Jackass,” which debuted with $22.8 million.
“Jackass: Number Two” cost just $11.5 million to make and took in slightly more than that on Friday alone. Males accounted for two-thirds of the movie’s audience, with 71 percent of the crowd younger than 25, according to Paramount.
Van Toffler, president of MTV’s music and film group, said Knoxville and his “Jackass” cohorts were elated by the sequel’s success.
“I think it was, ‘Holy blank, we’ve done it again. What is wrong with the country?’ ” Toffler said.
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