'Ted' outstrips 'Mike,' $54M to $39M, in big box-office weekend
7/1/2012LOS ANGELES — It's both a bear and bull market for Hollywood.
The bear is "Ted," Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane's comedy about a talking teddy bear, which opened as the No. 1 movie with $54.1 million.
And the bulls are baring it in "Magic Mike," Channing Tatum and Steven Soderbergh's male-stripper tale, which debuted a strong No. 2 with $39.2 million.
The two new movies were backed by a deep bench, with Pixar Animation's fairy tale "Brave" holding up well at No. 3 with $34 million in its second weekend. "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection" opened solidly at No. 4 with $26.4 million.
The four movies combined to keep Hollywood in the money compared to the same weekend last year, when "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" launched with nearly $100 million.