Sacha Baron Cohen made a hell of a lot of money by making movies where he would dress in funny disguises and rile up real people to capture their reactions on tape, and now the boys of Jackass are looking to cash in on a similar idea. As we first reported earlier this month, Paramount Pictures has funded a feature length version of the Irving pranks that Johnny Knonny Knoxville pulled in the first three Jackass movies and the original series titled Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. We were surprised when the studio announced that they would have the film ready for an October release - considering we hadn't heard about the project's existence until very recently - but now Paramount has proven that it's the real deal with a brand new trailer.
While this trailer does have its moments, I must say that I have my reservations about the movie. I've been a fan of the utter stupidity featured in Jackass since the first episode aired on MTV back in 2000 (remember when Steve-O puked up that goldfish? Ah, memories), but the Irving Zisman skits were never really my favorites. I get that they're trying to wrap a story around the character, pairing him with a young boy who helps him get into various shenanigans, but Jackass has always worked because of its short format. We watch a dude do something insanely stupid; he gets extremely hurt doing said insanely stupid thing; and we all laugh until it's time for the next bit. It's a formula that's worked for more than a decade, so why muss it up now?
To get a refresher course on Irving Zisman, you can watch clips below.
My real question is this: why not just make another regular Jackass movie instead of Bad Grandpa? When Jackass 3D came out in 2010 it wound up being a massive success and broke records for a Fall opening weekend (though it was usurped by 2011's Paranormal Activity 3). I can't imagine that it would be more expensive to make a full on Jackass movie than Bad Grandpa, so I suppose the issue must have been getting the entire gang back together. More than a decade of constant pain and punishment is a lot to deal with, so perhaps they just weren't up for it.
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa will be in theaters on October 25th
