The studio estimates are out for the weekend of June 29-July 1, and the numbers are shocking to say the least. Seth MacFarlane hit a homerun his first trip to the plate while Steven Soderbergh is showing off what his niche film-making can do in the absence of A-list talent. The former is descriptive of Ted and the motion-capture using teddy bear’s ability to perform big at the box office. With the industry expecting this film to play second fiddle of Pixar’s Brave with a little over $30 million, it is safe to say that the analysts were wrong again as the creator of Family Guy debuted to $54.1 million on the big screen.
They were also way off on Magic Mike who many perceived to be a $25 million debut at best. That particular feature stomped on the arts of polling data and statistical analysis with $39.2 million–a number on par with Steven Soderbergh’s best opening to date which came in the form of Ocean’s Twelve.
Third on the list was Brave which was supposed to win top spot for the second week in a row. There is no harm done though as Ted and Magic Mike have such different audiences that there was a negligible amount of mitigation. If anything, the two R-rated films hurt each other as the comedy had rom-com elements that would have been able to attract a stronger than expected showing with the female demographic which was Magic Mike’s bread and butter.
Another huge arrival that is going largely unnoticed is from the increasingly predictable Tyler Perry. Madea’s Witness Protection found $26.4 million in its first 3-days of release which is just above the debut of its direct predecessor.
Title – ($WEEKEND/$TOTAL)
1. Ted - $54.1 M / $54.1 M
2. Magic Mike - $39.2 M / $39.2 M
3. Brave - $34 M / $131.2 M
4. Madea’s Witness Protection - $26.4 M / $26.4 M
5. Madagascar 3 - $11.8 M / $180.0 M
6. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - $6 M / $29 M
7. Prometheus - $4.9 M / $118.3 M
8. Snow White and the Huntsman - $4.4 M / $145.6 M
9. People Like Us - $4.3 M / $4.3 M
10. The Avengers - $4.2 M / $606.3 M