Flashback: Brad Pitt Gets Kidnapped, Thrown Into Van on ‘Jackass’
By early 2002, Jackass had become such a cultural phenomenon that a major motion picture was in production and A-list Hollywood stars were asking to be on the show. It had been on the air just slightly over a year by that point, but watching a bunch of skateboarders find insane new ways to injure and humiliate themselves made for amazing television and the ratings were huge for MTV.
The third and final season was coming to an end when Johnny Knoxville bumped into Brad Pitt at director Spike Jonze’s house. “He was saying he really wanted to do something with us,” Knoxville told MTV News. “We were filming the last episode. At the time, we didn’t even have any ideas — just that he wanted to be on the show.”
They came up with a simple, one-minute bit called The Abduction where Pitt gets kidnapped by men in ski masks while in line at Pink’s Hot Dogs and throw into a van while onlookers look on helplessly. To be fair, a couple people do approach the van while Pitt screams for help and many called 911 as it sped away. “Brad Pitt was in line and he was just kidnapped and throw into a van,” one guy told the police. “I’m really not kidding.”
Jackass: The Movie hit theaters that October and made $79.4 million on a $5 million budget. Astonishingly, the follow-up film in 2006 made $84.6 million and the third one grossed $170.3 million in 2010. A fourth movie might be filmed in Australia at some point, but so far nothing has been announced. If it happens, lets hope they find an even more elaborate way to kidnap Brad Pitt.