Paramount Picitures’ non-fiction comedy Jackass Forever heads the new openers at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, on a busy weekend that also features sci-fi Moonfall, festival favourite The Souvenir Part II and anime Belle.
The fifth theatrically-released film in the Jackass franchise, Jackass Forever reunites Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius and the gang of miscreants for what they claim is their final outing under the Jackass name; although this was previously asserted after the 2002 first film, Jackass: The Movie.
Forever opens in 537 locations – a significant increase on the previous films Jackass: The Movie (340), Jackass: Number Two (358), Jackass 3D (373) and Jackass: Bad Grandpa (373).
After a dip for Number Two, opening and total grosses have increased for the last two titles, with 2013’s Bad Grandpa – the most recent title - the high watermark for the series (opened: £1.9m; closed: £6.5m). It also took the highest opening location average, of £5,203.
Since that film, platforms such as YouTube and TikTok have brought a new dimension to Jackass- style pranksters; Paramount will be hoping this translates to increased interest in the original team.
It is the third of five Jackass titles to receive an 18-rating, along with Number Two and 3D; The Movie and Bad Grandpa were both 15-rated. Scream, another Paramount title, showed there is interest in 18-rated features post-pandemic, with a £2.5m opening three weeks ago.
Moonfall landing
Entertainment Film Distributors is launching Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi disaster movie Moonfall in 550 locations.
The film stars Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson as two former astronauts aiming to save the world from a collision course with the moon; and Game Of Thrones alumnus John Bradley as the conspiracy theorist who joins them.
Emmerich’s CV is filled with similar disaster-genre titles, including 1996 smash hit Independence Day (opened: £7m; closed: £37.1m); 1998’s Godzilla (£4.2m; £16m) and 2004’s The Day After Tomorrow (£7.3m; £25.2m).
Moonfall was produced by Lionsgate, with the company also distributing the title in the US; but selling to independent distributors for international territories.
Picturehouse Entertainment is opening Joanna Hogg’s sequel The Souvenir Part II in 95 locations. The film debuted in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes 2021, before going on an extensive festival tour which included Jerusalem, San Sebastian, Zurich, New York, Busan, London, Thessaloniki and Stockholm.
It picked up three awards from nine nominations at the 2021 Bifas, in editing, production design and costume design. However it was shut out entirely from yesterday’s Bafta nominations, having only made the longlist for director.
The first film, 2019’s The Souvenir, was released by Curzon following a Sundance debut, with eyebrows raised when the sequel switched to fellow arthouse distributor Picturehouse.
The Souvenir opened to £109,845 from 43 locations at an average of £2,555, and finished on £536,692 – a good result for a limited-release indie title.
Belle of the ball
National Amusements is opening another Cannes 2021 title, Cannes Premiere selection Belle, in 150 locations. The anime sci-fi takes elements from the story of Beauty and the Beast, in the tale of a shy high school student who finds escape in a virtual world, where she begins a quest to uncover the identity of a mysterious creature.
Hosoda cut his teeth as an animator on popular series Dragon Ball Z and Digimon, and was the director for 2001 release Digimon: The Movie (£201,768; £1.3m). He has since moved into making arthouse anime titles, including his most recent feature Mirai, which opened to £73,671 from 107 sites and closed on £112,144, also through National Amusements.
Disney is releasing Michael Showalter’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye in 112 sites. The film is one of the final projects greenlit by Fox Searchlight Pictures before the 2019 takeover by Disney, and is going out under the renamed Searchlight Pictures banner in several territories.
It stars Jessica Chastain in a biopic of televangelist Tammy Faye Grover, and is based on a documentary of the same name by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. Andrew Garfield stars as Grover’s husband, with Cherry Jones and Vincent D’Onofrio also on the cast.
Tammy Faye made its world premiere at Toronto in September 2021 and has received one Bafta nomination, for make up and hair, while Chastain has secured a collection of nominations from US critics bodies.
Garfield is presently alsoappearing in Netflix’s Tick, Tick…BOOM! and Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Mubi is distributing Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s Lingui: The Sacred Bonds in 11 sites. It debuted in Competition at Cannes 2021, making Haroun one of only four Black directors to have a film in the main competition, out of 221 titles at the 14 A-category festivals.
Lingui went on to be Chad’s third-ever entry to the international feature Oscar; it follows a mother whose world starts to crumble when she discovers her teenage daughter is pregnant – with abortion outlawed and condemned by religion in the country, and her daughter adamant she doesn’t want the child.
It is Haroun’s seventh feature film; his highest gross to date is for 2010 Cannes Competition entry A Screaming Man, with £23,780.
Sony is opening Clint Bentley’s drama Jockey, about an aging jockey aiming for a final championship, in 41 locations; while BFI Distribution has 1962 romance Jules and Jim in 11 sites as part of its Francois Truffaut season; and Studio Soho has comedy-romance Never Too Late starring James Cromwell in 26 sites, adding a further 21 next week.
Key holdovers include Sing 2, which ended No Way Home’s six-week run atop the chart last week; plus number two Belfast, which may receive a boost from its six Bafta nominations.
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