R-rated Film 'Jackass: the Movie' Tops US Box Office

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, October 28, 2002

R-rated Film 'Jackass: the Movie' Tops US Box Office

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The R-rated new comedy "Jackass: the movie" grabbed the No. 1 position at the US box office over the weekend with a take of 22.7 million US dollars, the third-highest October opening ever, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

The Paramount Pictures film, which was based on the controversial MTV stunt series, follows a gang of inebriated urban warriors who eat a snow cone soaked in urine, defecate in a toilet displayed in a home-supply stores and pole-vault into a wall.

Although it did not screen for critics before the release, the five-million-dollar film surprised the public with the results. "We produced a good mindless escape for the weekend," said MTV President Van Toffler, who had hoped the movie would open with 15 million dollars. The music cable network's feature film arm, MTV Films, produced the project for Paramount, as both are units of Viacom Inc.

It was estimated that two-thirds of the audience were males, while almost half of them aged between 17 to 24. But exit polling indicated women who watched it loved the movie just as much as the men did, said Toffler.

Meanwhile, last weekend's champion, the killer-videotape horror "The Ring," slipped to No. 2 with a three-day haul of 18.8 million dollars. The film, remake of a Japanese horror film, should end up with about 80 million dollars, said Jim Tharp, distribution president at privately owned DreamWorks.

Another new release, the Warner Bros. Pictures' "Ghost Ship," took the No. 3 position with 11.7 million dollars, which was a surprisingly figure given the bad reviews.

Rounding up the Top 5 were two romantic comedies, "Sweet Home Alabama" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which earned 6.4 million dollars and 6.3 million dollars respectively. The accumulative earnings of "Sweet Home Alabama" had reached 107.2 million dollars, while "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" 177.8 million dollars since release early in the year.

Overall US box office revenues rose for the seventh consecutive weekend, as the top 12 films grossed 88 million dollars, up 21 percent from the same period last year.

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