Paramount Gives Away Next Jackass Movie Online

Jackass 2.5 is coming to an Internet screen near you, and it’s free. Paramount Pictures, MTV and Blockbuster have partnered to distribute the latest feature length film from the daredevil reality franchise in an ad-supported environment.

From December 19th through the 31st, the film will be distributed by movie rental firm Blockbuster’s Movielink service as a streaming video over Microsoft’s Silverlight media player. The movie won’t be directly available from Blockbuster, but instead will be distributed by the movie’s own site at blockbuster.jackassworld.com. As co-sponsor, Blockbuster will manage advertising for initial distribution of the film.

Blockbuster will also sell pre- and post-roll video advertising, and has signed on Clearspring to manage its inventory. Additionally, interactive marketing firm Deep Focus will support the release, according to CEO Ian Schafer.

Distributing a feature length ad-supported film online is new territory for Paramount, according to Alex Carloss, EVP and GM Digital Distribution for the studio.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to take a look at the standard model and see if we could shake it up a bit — to prove that distribution over the Internet is real,” he said.

The original Jackass television show aired on MTV from 2000 to 2001, and consisted of cast members conducting dangerous stunts or playing pranks. Jackass seemed appropriate for online distribution compared to other Paramount and MTV content, the company said, as a majority of its fans are from a younger demographic and accustomed to watching short videos online, said Carloss.

“Jackass was a property that was almost born on the Internet and designed for the Internet, with a demographic that lived and breathed on the Internet” Carloss said.