"Jackass 3D" blasted onto top of box office in North America

The latest spinoff of the Jackass franchise to hit the screen, "Jackass 3D" premiered in North America Friday, blasting off all the previous records and exceeding analysts' wildest expectations.

The third follow-up to the prank- and stunt-rich Jackass series, "Jackass 3D" hit some 4,600 screens at 3,081 locations in Canada and the United States, taking in 21.8 million U.S. dollars on Friday, exceeding all previous Jackass movie opening records and is on track to be the highest-grossing October release ever. It is expected to garner 50 million dollars in movie ticket receipts, putting it on top of the North America box office, the North America box office authority said, basing on projected ticket sales.

According to distributor Paramount Pictures, the comedy had the best weekend showing since "Inception" opened last July. Compared to "Jackass, Number two," the latest spin-off saw a 15-percent increase in the female audience, which totaled at 45 percent. Lacking an essential plot, the movie is a compilation of various pranks, stunts and skits carried over from previous productions. Director Jeff Tremaine said that he was aiming to revamp most of the old stunts from the show into the movie, and producer/actor Johnny Knoxville once prouded the movie on the fact that James Cameron's 3-D technology, which he used to shoot "Avatar," was applied on the film.

Opening in second place is "Red," a spy film with an ensemble cast of experienced actors headed by Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren. The movie is projected to sell 22. 5 million dollars worth of tickets, estimate from its studio Summit show. Based on a popular comic book written by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, the action-comedy film tells of a story of former black-ops agent who returns to action to take on a high- tech killer.

Two films have succeeded in staying in the top echelon of the box office derby.

At No. 3 is Sony's "The Social Network," which opened three weeks ago, is estimated to gross 11 million dollars this weekend, well on track for a total of 63.1 million dollars. "Secretariat," which is No.4, will rake in 9.5 million dollars worth of entrance stubs this weekend, for a two-week receipt of 27.5 million dollars for Disney.

"Life As We Know It," Warner Bros., is No.5, which grossed 9.2 million dollars this weekend, and 28.9 million over two weeks.