Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine have announced Jackass: Best and Last, hitting theaters June 26. And yes, they promise it's really the last one this time. We've heard that before.
Jackass Forever was supposed to be the finale. Before that, Jackass 3D felt like a natural endpoint. The franchise has been saying goodbye longer than most bands do farewell tours. But here's the thing: until Knoxville physically can't take another hit to the head, there will probably be another Jackass movie.
And honestly? That's fine.
Look, I'm a film critic who's supposed to have refined taste. I've seen every Terrence Malick film. I can discourse on the French New Wave. But I also laughed until I couldn't breathe watching Steve-O do unspeakable things in a porta-potty, and I'm not ashamed of that.
Jackass is one of the purest expressions of cinema that exists: people doing dangerous, stupid things while their friends laugh. There's no subtext to decode, no deeper meaning to uncover. It's just human bodies being subjected to physics and pain, captured on camera. It's cinema, in the most basic sense.
The cultural legacy is also undeniable. Jackass launched with MTV in 2000 and essentially created the template for every dumb stunt show, prank channel, and "DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME" video that followed. YouTube wouldn't look the way it does without Jackass. MrBeast is just Jackass with a bigger budget and brand deals.
What's remarkable is how the core crew has aged. Knoxville is 55 now. Steve-O is sober and weirdly inspirational. Chris Pontius is in his 50s. These men are getting hurt at an age when recovery takes significantly longer. There's something both admirable and concerning about their commitment to the bit.
