The long period of sagging box-office premieres seems to have come to an end, and that happened only thanks to 'Jackass: Number Two'. The movie, inspired from the popular MTV series, has already seen a successful spin-off in 2002, 'Jackass the Movie', but, this time, it surpassed any expectations.

Opening on Friday, 'Jackass: Number Two' grossed an estimated $28.1 million, well above the $23 million Paramount Pictures was hoping to make. Also as expected, the flick proved that there is an entire 'Jackass' base fan club, with ticket sale analysis indicating that 70 per cent of the viewers were under 25 years old, while 65 per cent were male.

This is really understandable, especially considering that the new set of adventures was described by the big shots at Paramount as more daring, more violent, something that only 'the three Studges on steroids would do'. And, for a show that has been off the air for quite some time now, anyone can admit that the flick inspired from it is doing more than great.

The second place this weekend went to Jet Li's last martial arts film, 'Fearless'. Grossing $10.6 million and getting almost only good reviews, the revenge saga is estimated to cash in many more millions during the second weekend of its running. This idea is supported by the fact that 'Fearless' is said to be a much classier film that Li's previous one, 'Unleashed' (May 2005).

'Gridiron Gang' fell to the number three but it still stands firm on its position. Opening last Friday, with ticket sales rising to $15 million by last Sunday, the Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson flick scored another $9.7 million and producers are optimistic that it will get to cross the $50 million limit by the time it stops running.

The remaining positions were disappointing, to say the least. 'Flyboys' made only $6 million and, considering that IMDb lists it as a $60 million movie, it was truly a big flop for the big shots at MGM. The animated 'Everyone's Hero' is holding tight to stick in the top ten movies and, with ticket sales of $4.8 million, it dropped only one position from where it opened last week.

Brian De Palma's star-studded drama 'The Black Dahlia' continues to dispel audiences and grossed a measly $4.4 million. With a budget rumored to be as high as $70 million, estimates show that it will never get to gross more than $30 million. Another major flop this weekend was Sean Penn's political drama, 'All the King's Men', another flick with a brilliant cast (Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet and Jude Law) that failed to attract the audiences.

The other three movies in this weekend's box office are movies that have lingered there for the past weeks. Amazingly, 'The Covenant' is still making more money than 'The Illusionist' and 'Little Miss Sunshine'. But critics are hopeful that, come next Friday, the scary/thriller mistake will fall completely from the North American top ten, as it should have ever since it premiered.