Caffeinated Clint
online for free over a two-week span from Dec 19
The “Jackass” gang is about to attempt its most audacious stunt yet: online-first movie distribution, says The Hollywood Reporter.
In a radical departure from the traditional movie business model, Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment and MTV New Media are co-producing “Jackass 2.5,” a sequel to its two-time boxoffice hit that will skip multiplexes entirely.
Instead, “2.5” will be offered online for free over a two-week span beginning Dec. 19 courtesy of Blockbuster and its new online property Movielink, which will exclusively host the 64-minute film during that period. The movie will be made available at blockbuster.jackassworld.com.
From there, the film will move on to different pay-per-view platforms including iTunes and DVD as part of a light-speed reinvention of the customary distribution-window chain. The domestic release strategy will be replicated internationally early next year, but with different distribution partners.
In addition, the movie launch will be a curtain-raiser for JackassWorld.com, which will establish a permanent online home for the franchise beginning Feb. 9. MTV will oversee the site with “Jackass” shingle Dickhouse Prods.
As the first studio-backed broadband film, “2.5” is a bold shift for a franchise that has delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to parent company Viacom in traditional distribution channels, from theaters to DVD. When all is said and done, “2.5” could end up a milestone in Hollywood’s transition to digital media or an overly ambitious misstep.
Tom Lesinski, president of Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, emphasizes that the film won’t be the last experiment from a studio intent on being a first mover in the space.
“We’re trying to shake up the model,” he said. “We’re trying to prove that some form of longform distribution can be successful on the Internet.”
“2.5” reunites all players on both sides of the camera from previous “Jackass” films, including executive producer Spike Jonze. The franchise has averaged nearly $80 million in worldwide gross over two separate theatrical releases: “Jackass: The Movie” in 2002 and “Jackass Number Two” in 2006. While not blockbuster numbers, they represent significant profit given that production costs were a fraction of the gross. Both films also opened at No. 1 in North America.
Although long rumored in the blogosphere to be in the offing, “2.5” has been deliberately kept under the radar for 18 months, long before the writers strike erupted. However, if it succeeds, the novel distribution approach eventually could give striking parties more ammunition in their quest for digital revenues.
In keeping with its innovative distribution scheme, “2.5’s” marketing strategy is just as unconventional. Rather than employ the traditional yearlong promotional campaign via 30-second spots and print ads, “2.5” will go into viral mode just a week prior to release with a video message from star Johnny Knoxville, a “2.5” trailer and clips. All are timed to capture the attention of the young males home for the holidays.
It makes sense to test the waters with “Jackass” for a number of reasons. First, production costs were minimal because most of the film is footage that was shot for “Jackass Number Two.” In addition, its merry band of masochistic pranksters are something of a precursor to the often rough-edged user-generated content that predominates online.
The absence of content restrictions on the Internet also will allow “Jackass” to push the boundaries of good taste even further than before. ” ‘2.5’ has a higher percentage of gross or inappropriate things to it, but nothing too gross that it couldn’t have been in ‘Jackass 2,’ ” said Jeff Tremaine, producer and co-creator of the “Jackass” films.
To protect children from the graphic content during its free-viewing window, Blockbuster will employ an age-verification system that will discourage anyone younger than 17 from seeing “2.5.” Viewers will have to go through a multistep registration process to get to the film.
