If anyone was surprised by the record-breaking $50 million haul brought in by "Jackass 3D" in its opening weekend, it's the men behind the mayhem, Johnny Knoxville and director Jeff Tremaine. The two men still can't believe "Jackass" ever made it to television, let alone the big screen and the eventual #1 spot at the box office.
MTV News recently caught up with the hit-making masters of mischief to find out their initial reactions to the numbers, as well as what they might mean for future "Jackass" films.
"The numbers were coming in all day long and I didn't want to hear anything until 9:30 Friday night," Knoxville said. "Whatever, I was superstitious," he admitted. "They said it was going to be $40 [million] and we were thrilled."
"I was on a bus," Tremaine recalled of getting the news. "Paramount rented a bus and we were going from theater to theater, sneaking in for [audience] reactions," Tremaine explained. "It was cool because it was building. Each later show got rowdier and rowdier. I had a good feeling, but no idea it would be as big as [what] we found out," he said.
Tremaine admitted that his expectations were somewhat low. "I was hoping just to beat 'Number Two,' I guess I have low expectations," he said. "I try to keep it reasonable, but, man ... it exceeded what I thought possible."
"It exceeded everybody's thoughts," Knoxville added.
So what does this mean for a "Jackass" sequel? Before the 3-D flick opened, we asked the crew whether they'd be up for a fourth installment but no one wanted to speculate too much. Now, with the film's overwhelming success, what are their plans going forward?
"We're just so grateful for what happened," Knoxville said. "To be doing this 10 years, and for this to be our biggest film, we're just so thrilled. We don't want to get greedy with any more expectations."
"It's been a constant shock to me," Tremaine said. "I always say this, but we were shocked it ever made it on TV, we were shocked that it got popular. We didn't think it was possible to make a movie — our first reaction to [that idea] was, 'How is this a movie?' " he laughed. "Then the movie was popular, we came back for a second and thought that was it. So it's a constant shock. We don't expect anything so it's awesome," he said. "It's an awesome, fun ride."
Check out everything we've got on "Jackass 3D."
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‘Jackass 3D’ Guys Say 3-D ‘Really Flatters What We Do’
