The hit and the flop that knocked ‘Spider-Man’ off his box office perch

Paramount Pictures’ “Jackass Forever” and Lionsgate’s “Moonfall” nabbed the top two spots at the domestic box office this weekend, grossing $23.5 million and $10 million, respectively, while kicking the mighty “Spider-Man: No Way Home” to third place.

The low-budget franchise title “Jackass Forever” exceeded expectations — which forecasted an opening weekend total in the mid-teen millions — while pricey disaster epic “Moonfall” performed about as poorly as predicted, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.

With the exception of Paramount Pictures’ “Scream” — which briefly unseated “Spider-Man” upon its debut — the latest installment in the web-slinging franchise has previously dominated the domestic box office since December. No major studio wide releases had even opened in the previous two weeks.

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‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is the first movie of the pandemic to cross $1 billion

Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is on track to be the highest-grossing Spidey of all time. ‘Matrix Resurrections’ and ‘Sing 2’ also hit theaters.

The Marvel and Sony blockbuster picked up $9.6 million in its eighth weekend for a North American cumulative of $749 million, while “Scream” landed at No. 4 in its fourth weekend with $4.7 million for a North American cumulative of $68.9 million. Rounding out the top five is Universal Pictures’ “Sing 2,” which collected $4.2 million in its seventh weekend for a North American cumulative of $139.6 million.

Directed by Jeff Tremaine, the grand finale of the “Jackass” saga sees the titular team of pranksters reunite after several years for one last chaotic adventure. The unscripted romp scored a superb 86% on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and a lukewarm B-plus rating from audiences polled by CinemaScore.

Aside from the original “Jackass: The Movie” — which amassed $22.8 million upon its 2002 debut — “Jackass Forever” posted the lowest opening weekend haul of the entire comedy franchise. “Jackass 3D” scored the biggest opening weekend for the series with $50.4 million in 2010, followed by 2013’s “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” ($32.1 million) and 2006’s “Jackass: Number Two” ($29 million).

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Helmed by Roland Emmerich, “Moonfall” stars Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson as a pair of NASA astronauts on an emergency mission to prevent the moon from colliding with Earth. The space drama received an underwhelming 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a dismal C-plus grade from audiences polled by CinemaScore. It is arguably targeted more at overseas audiences than domestic, but its international performance remains to be seen.

It’s also worth noting that Neon’s “The Worst Person in the World” notched the second-highest opening per-screen average of any limited release since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Directed by Joachim Trier, the Cannes Film Festival darling and international feature Oscar contender raked in $135,042 across just four screens for an impressive PSA of $33,760. (The Norwegian dramedy also earned a near-perfect 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.)

Meanwhile, United Artists Releasing’s indie romance “Licorice Pizza” still boasts the highest per-screen average of any post-pandemic film to open in limited release.

Opening in wide release next weekend ahead of the Valentine’s Day holiday are 20th Century Studios’ Agatha Christie murder mystery “Death on the Nile,” Universal Pictures’ romantic comedy “Marry Me” (which will also stream day-and-date on Peacock) and Briarcliff Entertainment’s action thriller “Blacklight.”