Viacom (NYSE: VIA) owned Paramount Studios and co-producer MTV New Media are debuting the latest version of its Jackass franchise online, which it says will be the first studio-backed movie to do so (other majors indies have been released online before or the same day as theater debut, such as “10 Items of Less” by Morgan Freeman). On Dec. 19, the studio will make “Jackass 2.5” available through Movielink, now owned by Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI). Technically it is not a full length movie: The hour-plus film has original material and previously unseen outtakes from the second “Jackass” movie in 2006. It was made for less than $2 million, and will stream for free here, but will have 15- or 30-second commercials before and after it plays, reports NYT.

Of course there’s the small matter of making the Movielink buying and watching experience less sucky.

On Dec. 26, the movie will be available on iTunes and Amazon.com (NSDQ: AMZN), for $10 to $15, and a DVD — including 45 minutes of extras — will also go on sale, for $30. (Crazy pricing dreams, really.) Then beginning Jan. 1, ad-supported streaming sites like Joost will let viewers watch the movie, or selected bits, for free. And in February the movie will be offered through cable and satellite TV VOD services. Paramount will keep 70 percent of online sales proceeds, the story says.

WSJ: Blockbuster paid a guarantee of around $2 million to Paramount for exclusive rights to “Jackass 2.5,” this story says. After that guarantee is recouped in advertising fees, Blockbuster will pay Paramount more than 70 percent of the advertising revenue.