It has taken three weeks, but finally a film has dethroned “Gravity” and claimed the top spot at the box office.

That honor went to Paramount Pictures’ “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,” which opened with an impressive $32 million. “Gravity” and “Captain Phillips” maintained their strong holdover status, claiming the second and third spots, respectively, while newcomer “The Counselor,” opened in fourth place.

The “Jackass” franchise is finally back with “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,” and audiences are clearly enthused. The $32 million opening of “Bad Grandpa” is the second highest debut in the “Jackass” series, behind the $50 million debut of 2010’s “Jackass 3-D” and ahead of the $29 million opening of 2006’s “Jackass: Number Two” and the $22 million debut of 2002’s “Jackass: The Movie.”

The opening for “Bad Grandpa” is impressive, given that the film is a spin-off rather than a direct sequel. The R-rated comedy cost approximately $15 million to produce, making it another cheap and easy win for Paramount. But it was also a win for comedies all around, as “Bad Grandpa” became the fifth live-action comedy to open with more than $30 million in 2013.

It is interesting to note that “Bad Grandpa” opened at a time when there are a slew of critically-acclaimed films aimed at adults in theaters, most notably “Gravity,” “Captain Phillips,” “12 Years A Slave,” “Rush,” “Prisoners” and “Enough Said.” But audiences chose to largely ignore these sophisticated films in preference of a simple comedy.

The familiarity of the “Jackass” brand, the laugh-out-loud previews and the universally-related premise of having an inappropriate older relative proved successful for Paramount, which now faces the tough decision of how to maintain the profitability of this important brand in the years to come.

The final new release in the top 10 went to 20th Century Fox’s “The Counselor,” which opened in fourth place with a low $7.8 million. Though the R-rated drug trafficking drama has immense star power with Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz, marquee names can only take a movie so far.

To pay to see a film, audiences need to be enticed by the overall concept of the film — not simply the stars involved. It did not help that trailers and TV spots for “The Counselor” provided little insight into what the film was actually about. Those who chose to see the film walked away disappointed, as evidenced by the film’s poor reviews: a 34 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a “D” grade on CinemaScore.

Published on October 30, 2013 at 12:19 am