Shaquille O’Neal Wants to Box Johnny Knoxville in New ‘Jackass’ Movie

The Jackass cast is returning in July 2021 for the fourth film in the series. Several prominent figures will have cameos, and former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has plans on being among this group. In fact, he has already thrown out a challenge to Johnny Knoxville and tried to set up a boxing match.

O’Neal threw down the gauntlet during a recent appearance on Steve-O’s Wild Ride! podcast. “I want to box Johnny Knoxville, because I remember when he boxed Butterbean,” he said. This referenced a scene from the original Jackass when Knoxville stepped into the ring with retired professional boxer Eric Esch, who went by the name Butterbean. He knocked out Knoxville in short order, resulting in the Jackass star getting several stitches.

When Shaq declared that he wanted in on the upcoming sequel, Steve-O promised to make it happen. He said he would text the director and Knoxville and that they “would be honored” to have the Hall of Famer make an appearance. He also promised that O’Neal would be part of the filming once it fully begins.

Jackass 4 had a previous release date of March 5, 2021. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted these plans. Theaters and productions around the world shut down due to health and safety concerns. Jackass 4 now has a tentative release date of July 2, 2021.

Beyond Knoxville and Steve-O, it is currently unclear which members of the original cast are returning to the franchise. The first three films featured Chris Pontius, Dave England, Ryan Dunn, BamMargera, EhrenMcGhehey, Jason “Wee Man” Acuna and Preston Lacy. Dunn passed away in 2011 after crashing his Porsche 911 GT3.

Chris Raab, AKA Raab Himself, only appeared in the first Jackass film due to falling out with Bam Margera. However, the pair reunited, and Raab has expressed his interest in returning for the fourth film. He confirmed this during an interview with Loudwire prior to the sequel’s confirmation.

“I get the feeling that everyone’s pretty interested in it,” Raab said in 2019. “I’m not sure that it would ever happen. Ryan [Dunn] was a huge part of that, so it’s sort of weird without him. We’ve got that question about the CKY thing. ‘Is there going to be a CKY 5?’ Nah, that’ll never happen.

“As far as Jackass, I would think maybe it would happen, but I don’t know ’cause I’m not in that world enough to know. I probably would be [a part of it] if asked … I feel like if Tremaine and Spike [Jonze] and Knoxville said, ‘Hey, let’s do it,’ then I imagine it would go forward. If they were to say it, I don’t think there would be pushback from others.”