‘Jackass’: Why This Time Really Is the End

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Director Jeff Tremaine knows people will point out that “Jackass: Best and Last” is not the first time Johnny Knoxville and crew have publicly announced this is the last “Jackass” movie.
“Every movie we’ve made has been the last one in our mind,” said Tremaine while a guest on this week’s Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast. “But this is the first time I really know it’s done. Like, now I’m admitting it, that it’s done. And part of it is Knoxville can’t do the same stuff.”
In the previous film, “Jackass Forever,” Knoxville got drilled by a bull that sent him out on a stretcher. In the film, cameras capture him coming out of the hospital with a broken wrist and in good spirits, but later it was revealed that the long-term damage was more severe.
“He got a traumatic brain injury on that, and it became apparent we can’t hit him in the head anymore,” said Tremaine. “We can kick him in the dick and punch his body, but it’s risky to get him another concussion.”
“Jackass: Best and Last” digs into the franchise’s archives and shows behind-the-scenes footage of what happened ahead of the fateful bull hit that semi-retired Knoxville, including the fact that he had done a previous take in which he took a significant hit from a smaller bull that didn’t lead to a dramatic fall or laugh that would be needed to make the final cut.
“It sucks because he broke two ribs on that first hit; that bull hit him hard,” said Tremaine. “The worst-case scenario to me is always something is gnarlier than it looks, and that was it. It was a gnarly hit that didn’t look dramatic enough to make the movie.”
In “Best and Last,” we watch Tremaine and Knoxville watching a playback of the first bull hit on an iPad, with Knoxville asking the director if they needed to do another take.
“You’re looking at two guys who both know we don’t have it. He needed me to tell him, ‘We have to do it again,’ and I’m reluctant to say that because I’m not the one standing out there putting my life on the line,” said Tremaine, who reflected on the irony of the situation, which he’s faced multiple times before. “The funny thing about ‘Jackass’ is if you set up a motorcycle jump and he makes the jump, well, they have to do it again. It has to fail. It’s designed to fail. The failure is what we’re after. But how can we make that spectacular without killing him.”
Tremaine, noting he is turning 60 this year, said, “ I just don’t want to keep doing it forever.” Adding he believes the craziest aspect of having to end the series on their own terms is that it has lasted this long.
“It’s crazy that we’re here talking about ‘Jackass,’” said Tremaine. “If you would’ve watched that TV show the first time it aired, you’d think, ‘Oh, this is going to burn bright and fast, it’s not made to last. It is not a marathon for this group. The fact that we survived 26 years is ridiculous.”
The franchise added new and younger supporting cast members to the 2022’s “Jackass Forever,” leading to speculation that it could continue without the core original crew, but Tremaine also threw cold water on that idea.
“We could get new people to come in, and there are gnarly people out there, for sure. But I would need to find a new gnarly me, too,” said Tremaine. “‘ Jackass’ is the guys. It feels like a bigger idea, but really it’s magic because of the guys in it. It would be hard for me to just find that new magic.”
The last shot in the last “Jackass” film is a behind-the-scenes shot of Tremaine and Knoxville in a motel room after a day of filming the first film “Jackass: The Movie.” The two are reflecting on the “chaotic” events of that day’s shoot, admitting they were scared by how out of hand things got. Knoxville smiles and says he loved it, but Tremaine is clearly traumatized — a side rarely shown, as the director is often seen as the merry prankster pushing the envelope with the cast.
“That was the night he had just flipped the golf cart [in 2002 ‘Jackass: The Movie’], and I thought he died,” said Tremaine, who you can hear panicking in the movie rushing to Knoxville in the clip above. “From my angle, that golf cart swallowed him up and broke his neck. I thought he might even have been decapitated by it from where I was sitting, because the golf cart blocked my view of it. It was bad, and then he popped up. I was shook the whole night.”
Tremaine continued, talking about the behind-the-scenes motel clip between him and Knoxville, and why he used it as the last shot in the last film: “It’s so funny because I had no recollection of a camera being on. It was just one of our producers was fishing through footage and saw that, and I really thought, ‘Man, that sums up so much of Johnny and I’s relationship.’”
To hear Tremaine’s full interview, subscribe to the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.
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Facts Only

* Director Jeff Tremaine was interviewed on the Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast.
* Tremaine stated that he now knows the *Jackass* series is done.
* In "Jackass Forever," Johnny Knoxville was drilled by a bull, resulting in long-term damage and a traumatic brain injury.
* Tremaine noted that the bull hit caused Knoxville to break two ribs.
* During filming of "Jackass: The Movie," Tremaine experienced a frightening incident involving a golf cart which he believed killed Knoxville.
* Tremaine felt reluctant about repeating dangerous stunts due to the physical risks involved.
* Tremaine stated that the franchise has lasted 26 years.
* Tremaine suggested that finding a new "gnarly me" would be necessary for future projects.

Executive Summary

Director Jeff Tremaine reflects on the history of the *Jackass* franchise, noting that he now understands the series has reached its conclusion. He discusses the physical risks involved in filmmaking, citing specific incidents such as a bull strike during "Jackass Forever," where Johnny Knoxville sustained long-term damage and a traumatic brain injury, and a dangerous incident involving a golf cart during the first film. Tremaine notes that the franchise’s longevity is remarkable, reflecting on the creative challenge of sustaining the spectacle over 26 years. He expressed reluctance about repeating extreme stunts due to the physical toll and sought a new "gnarly me" for future projects, suggesting that the core magic lies with the original group rather than just the spectacle itself. The reflection culminates in acknowledging the intense, chaotic nature of the filming experience and the personal trauma involved.

Full Take

The narrative of *Jackass* is framed around the tension between manufactured risk and genuine physical consequence. Tremaine’s reflection pivots on how historical spectacular failures—the bull strike, the golf cart incident—are essential to the brand's identity, yet they introduce real-world trauma for the participants. The core pattern revealed is the cyclical necessity of escalating risk to maintain entertainment value; the franchise requires a constant injection of danger, which paradoxically places immense stress on its creators and performers. The implication is that sustained success within an extreme performance paradigm often necessitates internalizing significant physical and psychological costs. Tremaine’s admission about the trauma suggests a critical dissonance between the desired outcome (spectacle) and the lived reality (injury and fear). This challenges the assumption that entertainment derived from extremity is purely beneficial, forcing consideration of who bears the cost—the performers, the crew, or the narrative itself—when pushing boundaries. The question remains: can spectacle endure when its creation fundamentally alters the subjects involved?

Sentinel — Human

Confidence

The text exhibits strong stylistic markers consistent with high-quality human-interview reporting, characterized by personal reflection and idiosyncratic emphasis.

Signals Detected

Natural variance in sentence length and conversational rhythm, avoiding the uniform metronomic flow typical of pure AI generation.

Strong idiosyncratic emphasis rooted in personal reflection and shared history (e.g., specific anecdotes about filming) that lacks generic LLM balance.

The text flows based on conversational pivots rather than mechanical transitions; arguments are delivered through personal reflection, not structured talking points.

Human Indicators

Specific, highly detailed anecdotes regarding film production trauma and personal reflections (e.g., the golf cart incident) provide a human-specific voice.

The language is evocative and focused on emotional states rather than merely transmitting factual data.