Next Wednesday, Paramount will release a new film in the pranky "Jackass" franchise -- "Jackass 2.5" -- on Movielink, an on-demand Internet movie service owned by Blockbuster. The film is composed mainly of outtakes and unreleased material from "Jackass: Number Two," which was released in 2006.
The film marks something of a new venture for the movie business -- it's the first full-length film to be released online, and Paramount hopes it will pay for itself through advertising. (The film is slightly more than an hour long; you'll be able to stream it for free, along with 30- or 60-second ad interruptions.)
Paramount has some reason to believe the film will find a niche online. The "Jackass" flicks have never been for the faint-of-heart, but "2.5," a studio head tells The New York Times, offers more of "the stuff consumers really want" -- that is, "more vomiting, nudity, and defecation."
Also, there's stuff like this, as relayed by the Times:
Blockbuster will offer exclusive access to "2.5" for about a week. After that, downloads of the film will sell on iTunes and Amazon for $10 to $15, and the studio will release a DVD, too, for $30.
The film is being released in conjunction with a new Web home for the Jackasses, at jackassworld.com. Visit the site now for a cringe-inducing video.
A chapter of "Jackass" as Web test [New York Times.]
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