The show features all of the original Jackass cast, including the leader Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Bam Margera, Preston Lacy, Ryan Dunn, Ehren McGhehey and Jason "Wee Man" Acuña. Brandon DiCamillo and Raab Himself also appear but not as frequently as in the show.
Other regular Jackass personalities who made appearances include Rake Yohn, Manny Puig, Phil Margera, and April Margera. In addition, Rip Taylor, Henry Rollins, Spike Jonze, boxing star Butterbean, Mat Hoffman, and Tony Hawk make cameo appearances.
Uncensored version of the TV show
Because of the nature of the film, everyone involved knew they could get away with doing stunts that would never get past television network censors. To that end, they included skits that involved profanity (such as Bam Margera vowing and making good on getting his mother to use profanity on camera), extreme stunts (such as Rocket Skates, which was filmed for the television show but wasn't allowed to air due to the network censors), and extremely crude humor (such as Butt X-Ray, which involves inserting a toy car wrapped in a condom into Ryan Dunn's rectum and getting X-rays of the car inside his anus, or Dave England defecating in a display toilet in a plumbing store showroom).
"Failed ending"
In the ending of the film, Johnny Knoxville is launched from a catapult into a pond, where Rip Taylor sits in a boat, announcing that "this is the end." This is followed with the credits being shown over outtakes from the film. The original ending for the film was supposed to be a Rube Goldberg-type contraption, with each of the cast members performing a stunt that either has something to do with what they did on the show (for example, the first stunt would have Preston as "The Human Wrecking Ball", knocking him into a Port-A-Potty), or simply for a sight gag (such as Ehren being knocked over in the Port-A-Potty and landing on a bed of toilet paper rolls), ending with Johnny being launched off the catapult next to Rip Taylor. However, as the entire contraption didn't work together the way they wanted it to, the producers of the film decided to try filming an alternate ending, which is how they came to film the "Son Of Jackass" skit. The Son Of Jackass skit involves dressing all the performers in 'old man' clothing and having them run around exploding buildings and sheds, with only Steve-O surviving to proclaim "Yeah, dude." In the cast commentary, it is said that this is ironic as Steve-O is the least likely to even reach old age. Some bits of the failed ending were incorporated into the end credits montage, like the skateboarder dressed in a penis costume and the giant Plinko contraption.
Japanese version
Since some scenes of the film were shot in Tokyo, Japan, a special edited version was made and screened for Japanese audiences. Some bits were edited out for legal reasons (especially scenes showing people's faces without their consent); however, they were placed back in for the special DVD version.
A reason for filming extensively in Japan is that laws requiring non-consenting participants to have their faces censored do not apply in Japan.
Box office performance
The film had a budget of $5 million and was the number one film at the United States box office when it opened, grossing $22,763,437, reffugees from 2,509 theaters, for an average of $9,073 per venue. The film fell to fourth place in its second weekend, but dropped a lower than expected 44 percent to $12,729,732, expanding to 2,530 theaters, averaging $5,032 per theater, and bringing the 10-day gross to $42,121,857.[1] The film went on to gross $64,255,312 in the United States alone, with the opening weekend making up 35.43 percent of its final gross. It also made $15,238,519 in other countries, bringing the worldwide gross of $79,493,831, returning its investment nearly 16 times over, and thus making the film a huge financial success.
Directed by
Jeff Tremaine
Produced by
Sean Cliver
Dimitry Elyashkevich
Spike Jonze
Written by
Jeff Tremaine
Spike Jonze
Johnny Knoxville
Bam Margera
Chris Pontius
Steve-O
Ryan Dunn
Dave England
Jason "Wee Man" Acuña
Preston Lacy
Ehren McGhehey
Starring
Johnny Knoxville
Bam Margera
Chris Pontius
Steve-O
Ryan Dunn
Dave England
Jason "Wee Man" Acuña
Preston Lacy
Ehren McGhehey
Music by Nicole Tocantins
Studio MTV Films
Dickhouse Productions
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) October 25, 2002 (2002-10-25)
Running time 87 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $5 million
Gross revenue $79,493,831
