From JACKASSES to Movie Stars

In 1999 a group of Jackasses decided to join forces and create something that would entertain people, while at the same time making them sick to their stomach. This formula has proven to be very successful for the Jackass crew. The show came to surface when Big Brother Magazine (a skateboarding-related magazine), was approached by Johnny Knoxville, who had been turned down by various magazines, with the idea of testing self defense devices on himself. Jeff Tremaine loved the idea and hired Knoxville as a journalist. Tremaine decided to take Knoxville's idea to the next level, and asked him to make a video of the stunts. The footage featured Knoxville getting tasered, maced, and even shot while wearing a bullet proof vest. This video appeared on the second Big Brother skateboarding movie. The video also featured Wee-Man and Steve-O, who was a clown in florida at the time.


Around the same time that Big Brother released their movie, Bam Margera released a movie called "Landspeed: CKY". The movie featured what Margera dubbed as the "CKY Crew", performing crazy skits and stunts. The crew included Ryan Dunn, Brandon Dicamillo, and Raab Himself. Along with Margera's parents and older brother. Tremaine loved the movie, and decided to recruit them into what would become the infamous Jackass crew. Then the crew recruited Steve-O, who at the time was working at a Florida flea market as a clown. The final cast member was Ehren Mcgheney, who was recruited by Dave England.


Now the crew needed a director, so Jeff Tremaine drafted director Spike Jonze to join the Jackass crew. Tremaine, Knoxville, and Jonze also served as Executive Producers. Once they started pitching the show, they were given an offer by NBC's Saturday Night Live to perform the stunts on a weekly show. They collectively decided to turn the offer since it wasn't what they were looking for. After turning NBC's offer down, a bidding war occured between Comedy Central and MTV, which eventually MTV won. This is when Jackass was born.

Once Jackass hit the airwaves of MTV, everyone started talking about the show. Some loved it, some hated it, but people were watching it regardless. The show immediately caught attention from the media, the government, and parents worldwide. Due to the graphic nature of the show and the dangerous stunts performed on the show, MTV placed warnings and disclaimers during the beginning of the show, after each commercial break, during very dangerous stunts, and they also showed the skulls and crutches logo throughout the entire show. They also made it clear that they did not accept submissions from fans. Regardless of all this measures, some stupid kids still tried imitating the stunts, which in some cases lead to the death and injuries of some kids.



Eventually, U.S. Senator Joseph Liberman publicly condemned Jackass and asked MTV to take more serious measures. Pressured by the government, MTV's parent company Viacom asked MTV to take some action. This is when MTV cancelled all airings before 10:00 PM, and eventually stopped rearing Jackass episodes. This angered the cast and the production of the show, who were pissed at MTV for bending over to Liberman's demands. In 2001, Johnny Knoxville announced during an interview for Rolling Stone magazine that the show would end after the third season of Jackass aired on MTV. The reason being that MTV started controlling the show by telling them what they could and could not do.


In 2002 the Jackass crew reunited to film what they believed would be the conclusion of Jackass. The full-length motion picture titled "Jackass: The Movie", featured more vulgar stunts than the ones allowed on MTV. The movie ended up costing $5 million dollars, and ended up making a whopping $60 million in the US alone. It also finished in the number 1 spot at the box office on its debut weekend.


After the release of "Jackass: The Movie", the Jackass crew parted ways. However, the Jackass monster was still hungry. In 2006, "Jackass Number Two" was released, and grossed $29.01 million in its debut weekend. The movie had to be re-edited after Don Vito (Bam Margera's uncle) was arrested after groping two 12 year old girls, the producers decided to cut out scenes that they thought would affect Don Vito's trial. After the release of "Jackass Number Two" the crew made it clear that as long as there was money to be made by the Jackass franchise, the Jackass movement would continue.


In 2007 Bam Margera announced on the Howard Stern Show, that "Jackass 2.5" was in production. This time around the concept was a compilation DVD of stunts that did not make it to "Jackass Number Two". One of this stunts was Bam pulling Don Vito's teeth out with his Lamborghini. This stunt was cut out of the DVD due to Don Vito's probation sentence in December of 2007. This same year "Jackass: The Game" was released. The game features the crew and their most popular stunts, plus additional stunts that the crew suggested to the game developers.

In 2008 MTV held a TV special called: "Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover" to coincide with the launch of Jackassworld.com, a website dedicated to everything Jackass. During 24 hours MTV welcomed the Jackass crew to their studios. This is when Jackass 3 was born, after the crew realized that the fire was still lit and the chemistry between them was intact.


For Jackass 3, the crew decided to take it to the next level and decided to film in places like Mongolio, South Africa, and Finland. This time around they decided to use 3D technology to add more realism to the movie. The movie came out this past Friday and it should be another hit for the Jackass crew. A crew of people, that went from Jackasses to Movie Stars.









Related links:
Official Site of Jackass 3D
Dickhouse TV

IMPRINTED by Jo Schüftan (Founder of Horns Up Rocks)