On Friday we told you that Jackass 3D had secured fall’s single-day debut record with over $21 million and that the sequel seemed destined to become one of the season’s all-time weekend champs with a projection of over $40 million. Turns out that the Jackass boys were destined for bigger things. With an estimated $50 million from 3,081 locations, the third installment in the franchise now holds both the October and the all-time fall weekend record – eclipsing Scary Movie 3’s $48.1 million set in 2003.

After The Final Destination opened huge in August of 2009, studios with fading franchises saw a way to instantly reinvigorate their brands – while upping their ticket prices. In recent months, however, sequels like Step-Up 3D haven’t made much of an impact, even with that added dimension, so the fact that Jackass 3D has come out so strong is a bit of a surprise. Paramount execs were hoping for a $30 million weekend. Instead they got the biggest October weekend of all-time. Funny how these things work out.

At a reported $20 million, Jackass 3D follows in the series’ trend of small budgets - most of that going for the extra 3D element and for medical insurance, I’m guessing. Eight years ago this month Jackass: The Movie debuted to $22.7 million. Jackass: Number Two topped that in 2006 with $29 million. The films have all realized big profits and, even with Jackass 3D costing almost twice what Number Two did, it looks like there is still a future for the Jackass franchise… provided the cast survives to complete another.

Although the film at number two realized less than half what Jackass 3D did, Red is by no means a disappointment. The adaptation of the DC comic made an estimated $22.5 million from 3,255 locations. That makes it a hit when compared to recent comic-to-screen treatments like The Losers and Jonah Hex. The film’s aging cast made it a tough sell for most studios, which all passed on the project. You’d think that the wide appeal of films like The Bucket List and Wild Hogs would have helped sell the concept for Red, but it turns out that that whole ageism thing within Hollywood studios is not a myth.

Last week Disney’s Secretariat seemed like a dud. This week, however, the “impossible” true story of racing’s most famous horse seems like more of a slow starter. The film had a strong hold of 75% to place fourth with $11 million. Life As We Know It also showed a decent hold in fifth place, falling just 35% after its debut last weekend. Meanwhile, The Social Network was down just 29% entering its third weekend while Ben Affleck’s The Town passed $80 million in grosses after five weeks in theatres.

A big record-breaking debut from the Jackass boys notwithstanding, this weekend’s box office still could not top the same period in 2009 when Where the Wild Things Are reigned.  In its limited release in six locations, Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter scored a solid $231,000 or $38,500 per screen despite the films so-so reviews. We’ll see what the rest of the country thinks next weekend when Eastwood’s drama goes wide.