Box Office Update 9/22-9/24: Jackass Number Two Takes a Number Two on the Competition

Posted by Chris Beaumont (chrisbeaumont@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 25, 2006

Before really going into my usual writings, I would like to take a bit of offense to something I read over at IMDB.com. In their box office recap they have the headline “Box Office Flunks Intelligence Test” as they describe the dominance of the teenage boy demographic at the box office and the rise of Jackass Number Two to the top of the heap. I don’t particularly have any issue with the thought that Jackass is not a terribly smart work, although I am sure there could be solid arguments either way. I take issue with the sweeping generalization that teenage boys are dumb. Sure there are dumb kids, but there are just as many smart kids, or kids that are trying to better themselves, and they should not be belittled in such a way. It gets worse, they go on to insinuate that Jet Li’s Fearless is aimed at the same target audience as Jackass. Huh? Who are they kidding? The former is a collection of gross and dangerous stunts, the latter is a foreign film that tells the story of an important person from Chinese history. Sure, it is an action film, but it is also much more than that. Basically, I do not like the insinuation that teen boys are dumb (I do not believe I was) nor do I like the equating of Jackass with Fearless. Now, on with our regularly scheduled program.

As expected, Jackass Number Two rose to the top of the box office. I saw it, and admit there is some sort of perverse fascination to be had with people who seem so willing to throw themselves into harms way with such fervor. Is there nothing these guys won’t do? I will spare you the details, but there is an interesting lyrical beat to the way this thing is put together. I do hesitate to call it a film or a movie or anything like that, as I do not believe it falls into that category.

Three other films made their names known in the top ten this week. First is Jet Li’s Fearless, and yes, I hate the possessive added to the title. I am very happy with how it turned out, as I thought it would fall a little further down the list. It is a very good film with a good story of self discovery, some top notch action, and one of Jet Li’s better performances. Next we have Flyboys landing at number four. It is not a terribly deep story, but it does feature some exhilarating bi-plane action. Lastly we have All the King’s Men, the film based loosely on the life of politician Huey Long. Despite its all star cast, it has not reviewed all that well. I cannot speak to it directly, having not seen it yet, but the trailers have not impressed me.

Surprisingly, almost all of the returning films had good showings. That is with the one exception of The Black Dahlia, which fell over 55%. Too bad, despite the narrative issues that it contains, this is an interesting film with some wonderful visuals. At the other end of the scale is The Illusionist taking a mere 8% from last week. It seemed to be a pretty good week all around. It was good to see Little Miss Sunshine hanging on to the top ten, slipping just 15% from last week. I may not have reviewed it, but it was one of the more satisfying films of the year and it is encouraging to see such a good film perform well through, primarily, word of mouth.

Four films dropped from the list this week: Invincible (11), The Last Kiss (12), Hollywoodland(13), and Crank (15).

I am sad to see The Last Kiss fall all the way to number 12 in only its second week. It is a very good film and deserves a better fate than its apparent quick exit from the charts. Likewise, Hollywoodland has been slipping further and further away from the top. It, too, is a good film that deserves better than a fall to fourteenth in just three weeks.

Box Office Predictions Recap
Nothing quite like getting everything wrong. OK, not everything, I successfully pegged Jackass Number Two to top the charts, but I was a good dozen mill short of where it would eventually come to land. Still, I love my complete inability to peg the public’s desires. Am I really that out of touch?

Read more articles by Chris Beaumont