MTV Makes Jackasses of B.O. Competition

MTV and Paramount pulled off a stunning upset at the boxoffice over the weekend. The $5 million shot-on-video feature-length version of the popular Jackass TV series took in $22.7 million, outgrossing the big budget, effects-laden chiller Ghost Ship and last week’s champ The Ring.

Featuring a group of young men risking their health and dignity by performing various ill-advised stunts, Jackass scored well with the young male demographic apparently retaliating after being dragged to films like Sweet Home Alabama and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

While DreamWork’s The Ring slipped to second place, the horror film benefited from word-of-mouth and enjoyed a 25% upswing in ticket sales in its second weekend.

Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is still treading top 10 water at the No. 8 spot. In its 4^th weekend, the CG family film swallowed another $2.9 million, outperforming bigger releases like Paramount’s Abandon, which plummeted to No.14 in week 2.