‘Ted 2’ falls short of expectations as ‘Jurassic World’ continues winning streak

Seth MacFarlane’s comedy “Ted 2” fell short of box office tracking expectations with a $32.9 million launch in theaters this weekend, as “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out” continued a close race for No. 1 at the box office.

Universal Pictures’ dinosaur adventure maintained its top spot for the third consecutive weekend, collecting an additional $54.2 million in the U.S. and Canada. Its worldwide total is $1.2 billion.

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FOR THE RECORD

An earlier version of this article referred to “Ted 2” as a Warners release instead of Universal.

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With $500 million domestically to date, the film is now the fifth highest-grossing domestic release of all time, coming in behind the $534.8-million for “The Dark Knight” in 2008.

“Frankly, it just continues to astound,” Nick Carpou, Universal’s head of domestic distribution, said of the film’s success. He attributed the popularity of the film to its broad appeal, noting it has drawn in all age groups and genders.

The film, directed by Colin Trevorrow, follows dinosaur trainer Owen (Chris Pratt) as he tries to help people in a theme park escape from a new genetically modified dinosaur named Indominus Rex. It received decent reviews from critics and scored an A from audience polling firm CinemaScore.

Though “Ted 2,” another Universal Pictures release, opened at No. 3, its box office haul was far from the $54-million total of “Ted” three years ago. However, Universal considers the comedy sequel’s opening a solid start considering it faced two tentpoles at the box office.

“Ted 2” follows John (Mark Wahlberg) and his best friend, Ted, a potty-mouthed teddy bear (voiced by MacFarlane). This time around, Ted seeks help from a lawyer (Amanda Seyfried) and a civil rights attorney (Morgan Freeman) so he and his new wife (Jessica Barth) can adopt a child.

Like its predecessor, the comedy attracted largely male audiences. An estimated 51% of audiences were 25 and older and 59% were male. It earned a B-plus rating from CinemaScore and 47% positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

With no other new R-rated comedies coming into the marketplace for the next few weeks, Universal expects continued playability for the comedy.

“People going for the humor aren’t disappointed,” Carpou said. “We have some time for it to play out.”

Internationally, the comedy collected $20.3 million in 26 territories including Germany, Russia, Australia and Taiwan. It will open in 38 more territories in the coming weeks.

Pixar’s critically acclaimed hit “Inside Out” trailed closely behind “Jurassic World” in second place with $52.1 million, a 42% drop from its opening last weekend.

The animated feature has made $184.9 million domestically to date. Overseas, the film earned $81.5 million, bringing its worldwide total to $266.4 million.

The film, directed by Pete Docter, blew past early tracking expectations with a $90-million opening. Only “Toy Story 3,” with a $110.3-million debut weekend in 2010, has opened bigger for Disney-owned Pixar.

The film follows an 11-year-old Midwestern girl named Riley who is steered through a life-changing move to San Francisco by the emotions in her head: Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling).

It notched a 98% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore.

“Max,” a new entry at the domestic box office, came in at No. 4 with $12.2 million. Director Boaz Yakin’s film about a canine military veteran with post traumatic stress disorder, earned a solid A grade on CinemaScore. Developed, financed and produced by MGM Studios and released by Warner Bros., the film played to mostly older, female audiences: An estimated 57% were over the age of 25 and 55% were females.

Meanwhile, in limited release, Warner Bros. documentary “Batkid Begins” earned $23,000 in four theaters, a per-location average of nearly $6,000.

If Sunday figures hold, the weekend will be up about 3% from the same period a year ago when “Transformers: Age of Extinction” opened with $100 million, according to Rentrak.

The upcoming Fourth of July weekend is expected to bring in moviegoers in droves as “Magic Mike XXL” and “Terminator Genisys” enter the marketplace.

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