The party wasn’t as wild the second time around. Universal’s Ted 2 debuted to an underwhelming $32.9 million across 3,442 theatres in North America, roughly $15 million less than most analysts had expected the pot-smoking teddy bear comedy would bring in during its opening weekend.
The mellow-harshing start was largely attributable to the presence of two box office juggernauts in Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out and Universal’s Jurassic World, which racked up $52.1 million and $54.2 million, respectively.
Jurassic World now ranks as the fifth highest grossing domestic release of all time with $500 million in stateside receipts, behind The Dark Knight’s $534.8 million haul. It marks the third consecutive weekend that the dinosaur thriller has topped North American charts, and the fastest that a film has ever crossed the $500 million mark. Inside Out took runner-up position for the second consecutive weekend. The critically heralded family film has earned a sizable $184.9 million since opening last weekend.
Ted 2 got off to a more sluggish start than its predecessor, Ted, which got things going with a massive $54 million start on its way to a $549.4 million global haul. Perhaps the plot, in which Ted tries to convince a court that he’s a person so he can have a child with his wife, was too downbeat.
“This year, a lot of sequels are a bit more challenged, with the possible exception of some of the ones that we’ve had,” said Carpou, noting Universal’s Furious 7 and Pitch Perfect 2 buck that trend.
The weekend’s other new release, Max, an uplifting drama about a military dog combined pooches and patriotism to the tune of $12.2 million across 2,855 locations. Shot for $20 million, the Warner Bros and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer co-production, was expected to open to roughly $10 million.
Spy, the Melissa McCarthy espionage comedy, took fifth place with $7.8 million, bringing its total to $88.3 million.