The co-creator of Punk’d just signed a movie deal—unless, of course, he got punk’d
Trapped in a purgatory of his own deceitful, pratfall-prone making, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the co-creator of Punk’d, Jason Goldberg, has made a pact with STX Entertainment to develop a potential celebrity-prank film franchise. (Yep, we said “franchise.”) Each film in the series would be composed of approximately ten segments, each featuring a famous person from the worlds of TV, film, music, or sports getting their proverbial leg pulled.
Most likely, STX and Warner Bros., which has agreed to help finance the films and distribute them internationally, are hoping to replicate the success of the Jackass franchise, another shenanigans-based MTV series that successfully made the transition to the big screen. (Jackass 3D reportedly made $117 million on a $20 million budget, and that’s just the domestic box office.)
Another option is that maybe Kutcher and all of the celebrities he’s pranked over the years have joined forces, using their collective star power to convince STX and Warner Bros. to play along with Goldberg’s movie pitch. Depending on the strength of the executives’ resolve, this prank could go as far as the Academy Awards, where Goldberg—who thought it was kind of weird to be nominated for an Oscar for a celebrity prank movie but was so thrilled he went with it anyway—will finally realize that this is all a joke when Ashton Kutcher walks out to the podium to present the award for Best Picture, something that everyone knows Ashton Kutcher has no business doing.
“You just got punk’d!,” Kutcher will exclaim before a TV audience of billions, the assembled A-listers all turning and laughing and snapping pictures of Goldberg with their phones. Red-faced, Goldberg will reluctantly admit that, yes, he got punk’d. “I guess you got me,” he’ll murmur, not sure how to process the most triumphant moment of his life being deflated in such a spectacularly humiliating, yet undeniably hilarious, fashion. “The punk’r has become the punk’ee, bro,” Kutcher will say, putting an arm around Goldberg’s shoulder and a Punk’d baseball cap on his head. “Don’t get all butthurt about it.”