Weekend Box Office: June 29 - July 1

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Ted - $54.1 million

2.  Magic Mike - $39.1 million

3.  Brave - $34 million

4.  Tyler Perry's Medea's Witness Protection - $26.3 million

5.  Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted - $11.8 million

6.  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - $6 million

7.  Prometheus - $4.9 million

8.  Moonrise Kingdom - $4.8 million

9.  Snow White and the Huntsman - $4.4 million

10.  People Like Us - $4.3 million

Well, the creator of the Teddy Ruxpin doll might not be happy about it, but audiences certainly were as Ted took the top spot this weekend with $54.1 million.  That's the third-highest opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie, behind The Hangover Part II and Sex and the City.  Directed and co-written by Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane, Ted benefitted not only from a built-in audience of McFarlane fans, but a brilliant marketing campaign, and the good fortune of a better release date, after GI Joe got moved to next summer.  With an "A-" Cinemascore, this one is probably going to stick around for a good part of the summer.

But this weekend was not without Channing Tatum (at this point, what weekend is?) since Magic Mike opened this weekend to the delight of women who clearly raced out to see the stripper film as quickly as possible - nearly half of the $39.1 million it earned this weekend came in on Friday.  Still, it's a great debut, especially for Tatum, as Mike becomes his third hit film of the year after 21 Jump Street and The Vow. 

Not to be left out amongst the foul-mouthed teddy bears and strippers, Tyler Perry's latest entry in the Medea franchise did all right, opening with $26.3 million.  That's not quite as big an opening as some of the previous films in the series, but the series is still going strong.

The weekend's other new release, the family drama People Like Us, couldn't hold up against any of the competition, opening in tenth place with just $4.3 million. 

As far as the kids' films:  Pixar's Brave crossed the $100 million mark this weekend, earning $34 million to bring its domestic total to $131.7 million, while Madagascar 3 continues to perform strongly, earning another $11.8 million to bring its own domestic total to $180 million.  But on the horizon is Ice Age 4, which has already earned $78 million overseas.  That opens in the US on July 13.

Next weekend, the endless speculation on whether or not the world is ready for a Spiderman reboot can be put to rest as The Amazing Spiderman finally opens in theaters.  The reboot has gotten off to a promising start overseas, where it has already earned $50 million.  Whether or not that continues here (Battleship, anyone?) remains to be seen.  Joining Spidey will be Katy Perry's 3D concert film (who greenlit that?) Katy Perry: Part of Me, and Taylor Kitch's third-time-is-the-charm crime thriller, Savages.