By Chris Kavan - 02/09/22 at 10:32 AM CT
Spider-Man finally took a backseat as two newcomers entered the box office fray. And emerging as the winner was a group of friends who put their bodies - and humility - on the line as the Jackass crew took top honors. While that crew could celebrate the same couldn't be said of Roland Emmerich and Moonfall, which had an opening that could only be described as disastrous. Meanwhile, once again, the MPAA Ratings Bulletin has a nice amount of films but, sadly, none that reach the wide release status.
After nearly two months of nothing but Spider-Man, the box office finally got some new blood and the film that emerged victorious was Jackass Forever. Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Jeff Tremaine, Ryan Dunn, Jason 'Wee Man' Acuña, Ehren McGhehey, Dave England, Dave Raab, Preston Lacy and the rest of the crew once again put their aging bodies and health on the line to entertain us with a series of outrageous stunts and pranks that put them on the map. And it turns out, guys getting hit in the nuts and covered by bees and spiders was just what the world needed right now. Opening to the tune of $23.1 million, Jackass Forever easily covered its $10 million budget. Despite the nature of the film - critics were surprisingly kind, with an 85% Fresh rating, with many hailing this as the best Jackass of the bunch. Audiences were even more kind - 93% Fresh and a hearty "B+" Cinemascore. Surprising no one, the audience was overwhelmingly male and most younger, though a good chunk was over 35, meaning the original audience who grew up on the MTV crew happily returned as well. It remains to be seen whether the film can survive more than one week atop the box office, but the Jackass crew has already proven their point - and given a little fun to these otherwise bleak times.
Coming in at second place - and just ahead of Spider-Man, Roland Emmerich's latest all-out disaster film Moonfall opened to $9.86 million. However, that looks pretty awful compared to its reported $150 million budget - the biggest ever for an independently-produced film. Long gone are heyday of Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow or even 2012 - it turns out during a real-life disaster people aren't wild to escape to an on-screen disaster - even as one as wildly crazy as Moonfall. While the film boasts a decent cast in Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer, Michael Peña and Donald Sutherland - I don't think this will stick around long. I also don't know if anyone will be willing to take another chance on Emmerich after this. With a 39% Rotten rating from critics and an anemic "C+" Cinemascore from audiences, it's long-term prospects are pretty much nil. We'll see if the international audience can help stop the hemorrhaging but I don't think it will be enough for this film to avoid losing a mountain of cash.
In third place, a by a rather slim margin at that, is where we find Spider-Man: No Way Home. Our long-time box office champion still took in $9.5 million (down a light 13.6%), enough to raise its total to $748.8 million - flirting with that $750 million milestone and a mere $11 million behind Avatar to take third-place spot on the all-time highest-grossing list. And it is only a matter of time before it does - a week or two at the most now - and while that will likely be its last, major milestone it reaches the domination and performance of the film has been absolutely astounding, even as we still live in the shadow of an ongoing pandemic. Its worldwide total has hit $1.78 billion and still counting.
In the fourth-place spot horror "requel" Scream landed with a $4.75 million weekend - down just over 34% - for a new $68.9 million total. It looks to hit the $75 million milestone some time this week. With a bit over $51 million on the international front the film boasts a solid $120.3 million worldwide total - not bad for a series that's over two decades old.
Rounding out the top five, Sing 2 is hanging on with $4.2 million and down a mere 9.7% as families still look for some reprieve. That gives the star-studded animated sequel a $139.6 million total as it looks to claw its way across the $150 million mark before it ends its run in theaters. It has made a tidy $291.5 million worldwide - as it looks to also claw its way to $300 million.
The big limited debut this week belonged to The Worst Person in the World from Norway and starring Renate Reinsve has been a big hit with critics and opened to $138,424 in 19th place - but from just four theaters - for an impressive $34,606 per-theater average.
Next week brings us a handful of new films including Kenneth Branagh's long-delayed Death on the Nile (where we'll see if Armie Hammer's personal problems impact the bottom line) along with Liam Neeson's Blacklight and romantic comedy Marry Me (also debuting to stream at the same time).
As has become a somewhat worrying trend, the MPAA Ratings Bulletin has given us a bunch of new ratings - but none that are wide release. So I am forced once again to provide a mere list and hope the future brings bigger and better options.
A DAY TO DIE
Rated R for violence, pervasive language, drug use and some sexual material/nudity.
FIRE ISLAND
Rated R for strong sexual content, language throughout, drug use and some nudity.
THE MACHINE
Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, drug use and some sexual references.
THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT
Rated PG for some thematic elements, language and smoking.
MONTANA STORY
Rated R for language.
MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS
Rated PG for suggestive material, language and smoking.
MY POLICEMAN
Rated R for sexual content.
PRIVATE PROPERTY
Rated R for some violence, language and sexual references.
THE SEA BEAST
Rated PG for action, violence and some language.
SENIOR YEAR
Rated R for sexual material, language and brief teen drinking/drug use.
