LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Paramount's comedy film "Jackass Forever" led ticket sales at the North American box office with an estimated 23.5 million U.S. dollars in its opening weekend, according to studio figures released by measurement firm Comscore on Sunday.
Capturing the top spot, "Jackass Forever" also dethroned the superhero film "Spider-Man: No Way Home," which topped the box office chart six times in the last eight weeks.
The R-rated slapstick comedy film is the fourth installment in the main "Jackass" film franchise. Directed by Jeff Tremaine, the film stars Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, and Preston Lacy.
In this sequel to 2010's "Jackass 3D," the original crew return for another round of hilarious, wildly absurd, and often dangerous displays of comedy with a little help from some exciting new cast.
"A terrific opening for this well-reviewed and well-received latest installment of Jackass, 'Jackass Forever' has proven once again the enduring need for laughter," noted Paramount in a release put out by Comscore, a U.S. media measurement and analytics company, adding that "Knoxville and team have delivered not only to their core audience, but they have also surprised and delighted a new and younger generation of moviegoers."
"Jackass Forever" holds an approval rating of 85 percent based on 105 reviews to date on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The film scored a "B+" CinemaScore from audiences.
Another newcomer, Lionsgate's science-fiction disaster film "Moonfall" opened in second place with 10 million dollars.
Directed by Roland Emmerich, the film stars Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Pena, Charlie Plummer and Chinese Canadian actress Kelly Yu. In the film, a group of scientists are tasked to save the Earth when a mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sends it hurtling toward a collision course with the Earth.
With a budget of 140 million dollars, the film is reportedly the biggest-budget independent movie to shoot in recent years, according to Deadline.com, an entertainment industry news website.
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" moved to third place this weekend with 9.6 million dollars. The film has grossed 748.95 million dollars in North America for an enormous global cume of 1.77 billion dollars.
Based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the sequel to the 2017 "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and 2019 "Spider-Man: Far From Home." Directed by Jon Watts, it is the third Tom Holland-led Spider-Man film.
Paramount's horror film "Scream" landed in fourth with 4.74 million dollars in its fourth weekend for a North American total of 68.94 million dollars.
The fifth installment in the "Scream" film franchise is a direct sequel to "Scream 4." Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town's deadly past in the latest "Scream" film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette return to their iconic roles in the film alongside Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette and Jenna Ortega.
Universal's animated musical comedy film "Sing 2" finished fifth in its seventh weekend with 4.17 million dollars, pushing its North American total to 139.57 million dollars.
Directed by Garth Jennings, the film features an all-star cast of voice talents, including Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly. Buster Moon, the ever-optimistic koala who owns the Moon theater, and his performers must persuade the world's most reclusive rock star to join them for the opening of a dazzling stage extravaganza in the sequel. ■
