In a surprise upset this weekend, Universal Pictures' "Ted" defeated not on "Magic Mike", but Pixar's "Brave" at the box office to become the supreme champion this weekend, stealing the coveted Number 1 spot with an astonishing $54.1 million total. That's better than "The Hangover" when it debuted in May of 2009, and it marks the third best R-rated comedy debut behind "The Hangover Part 2" and "Sex In The City".
How did a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking bear conquer all this weekend? To put it bluntly, originality.
Both "Ted" and "Magic Mike" (which settled for Number 2 this weekend at $39 million) managed to sweep in audiences without the gimmick of 3D, and without the upcharges on the tickets to swell the numbers. Therefore, they had to rely on cast and story to do the trick.
I'm going to make the argument that both had gimmicks of their own "Magic Mike" had hunky men like Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey shaking their moneymakers and shedding clothes, while "Ted" had a walking, talking, pot-smoking, alcohol-chugging teddy bear. Both had amazing advertising campaigns, and I thought that "Magic Mike" had the better one, making the film into an event movie for women to go in groups like they did with "Sex And The City" in 2008.
However, "Ted" still came up on top with what appears to be a massive following. It's hard to imagine that Channing Tatum couldn't beat a teddy bear at the box office, but it's true. How, you may ask? Once again, originality.
You can make the argument that both films are originals, and you would be right. Neither are sequels, prequels, remakes or reboots. However, "Magic Mike" is loosely based upon Channing Tatum's career days as a male erotic dancer, so it could be argued as well that it's not quite an original story. "Ted", on the other hand, is completely original.
Satirizing Disney-like stories of toys coming to life from a young child's wish ("Life Size", for instance), "Ted" shows what happens when both the boy and the toy grow up together. Adding Mark Walhberg as Ted's man-boy friend John and Mila Kunis as John's way-to-good-for-him girlfriend Lori was an added bonus to writer/director Seth MacFarlane voicing Ted himself, and the story provided to make this movie great.
Sure, "Family Guy" fans showed up in droves to see this movie since it is Seth MacFarlane's big screen debut, but, despite the various cameos by "Family Guy" stars and few "Family Guy" references, this is NOT a "Family Guy" movie.
"Ted" makes a huge leap in MacFarlane's career, opening up at such an astonishing number, and the story is what carried it there. Star power aside (Wahlberg is not a huge draw anymore, while Kunis' last film, "Friends With Benefits", was considered a flop), "Ted" is not just about a talking teddy bear, but about love, friendship, and growing up -- all relatable concepts. Indeed, the poignancy of "Ted" comes as quite a shock, but the fact it can make you laugh while warm your heart is why this film is as genius as it is. Much like "The Hangover Part 2" that added intelligence to the humor to up the ante, "Ted" adds sentimentality, love and loss to the story to make the film grounded in reality to make you realize that Ted, at the core, has emotions too at his fluffy core.
Though in the weeks to come with comic book adaptations "The Amazing Spider-Man" (reboot) and "The Dark Knight Rises" (sequel) dominating the box office, it's nice to know that film audiences are not as desensitized to unoriginal films as they seem to be. Granted, they rejected the wonderful "Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World", but, hey, pick your battles.
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