Seth MacFarlane’s Ted blew expectations out the door with the highest opening of all time for an original R-rated comedy. Who would have thought that the combination of a pot-smoking teddy bear and Mark Wahlberg could turn out so great?
Ted had a $54.4 million start at the box office last weekend, that’s more than the original Hangover ($44.9 million, previously the biggest debut for an original R-rated comedy). Among other Mark Wahlberg flicks, Ted sports the 2nd best opening, below only Planet of the Apes (2001) and its huge $68.5 million. Based on this debut, Ted might be looking at anywhere from $150 to $200 million in North America when all is said and done. When compared to other films with a CGI star, it should ultimately crack the all-time top 5 (Scooby-Doo with $153.2 million is 5th right now).
Another fantastic opening came from Magic Mike, the Channing Tatum male stripper film. Yes ladies, you did it, $39.1 million. Just $26,000 more and it could have been the biggest opening for director Steven Soderbergh. Looking at the way it has performed over the weekend, I don’t know if this could become the 3rd consecutive $100+ million grosser for Channing Tatum, after The Vow ($125 million) and 21 Jump Street ($138.4 million). Either way 2012 has been an amazing year for the actor so far.
Brave came in 3rd, down 48.6% with $34 million for a very impressive 10-day total of $131.7 million, ranking 5th among other Pixar films at the same point in their run. In the coming weeks it will easily shoot past the $200 million mark and eventually make its way somewhere between Wall-E ($223.8 million) and Monsters, Inc. ($255.8 million).
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection was 4th with $25.3 million. That’s a slightly better opening than the previous Madea film, Madea’s Big Happy Family with its $25 million.
Madagascar 3 rounded out this amazing Top 5 with $11.8 million. So far the animation has made $180 million in 24 days, still way ahead of its predecessors and well on its way to become the first Madagascar film to gross over $200 million in North America.
