Monday Morning Quarterback
By BOP Staff
June 30, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Jason Barney: I think the opening should have been much closer to the original, but for a couple of reasons, it came in far below it. I didn't think that the teaser was particularly interesting. Having the two main characters from the original on screen again could have worked, but the emphasis on the scene in the sperm bank just came across as "how raunchy can we make this?" I saw that ad for it and knew I was going to skip the film. Obviously a lot of other people did as well.
Secondly, if a movie is not a big budget action film, it is not going to get the benefit of the doubt during the summer movie season. The Ted franchise is comedic, and if the first people who viewed it were not that impressed, word-of-mouth is not going to be helpful. If this was a good film, the buzz would be there. However, people are not going to pay to see a comedy that isn't that good - even if it is a sequel to a beloved film.
Edwin Davies: The main problem seems to be that the premise wasn't that appealing, at least compared to the first Ted. The first film had a very simple, high-concept premise, which was basically just "raunchy living teddy bear!" which was easily sellable in the trailers. The sequel's premise, by comparison, seemed really strained, as if they were really struggling to come up with a reason to bring the character back, and that desperation leaked out of the trailers, which struggled to find an angle to hang everything on. Three years might also have been too long of a gap between films, as we've seen a bunch of R-rated sequels fail after leaving a three year gap between installments, while 22 Jump Street exploded last year after waiting only two years.
It's also worth noting that Ted came at a peak for Seth MacFarlane as a cultural force, but that in turn led to moments of overexposure like his divisive performance as an Oscar host and the complete and utter failure of A Million Ways to Die in the West. His brand is a little tarnished at this point, which probably made even people who liked the first film wait and see what the reviews and word-of-mouth are.
For all of that, I'd still expect Ted 2 to make a slight profit once international numbers come in, so this isn't a disaster the way that AMWTDITW was. Still, it's a pretty disappointing result for a film which most everyone assumed would do at least reasonably well compared to the first film.
Ben Gruchow: I'm not too surprised at this result, and I was actually kind of expecting it to throw under this a little bit. Ted 2 had 'meh' written all over it from the first trailer; I think Edwin did a bang-up job of pointing out why. Beyond the quality of the sequel itself, there's the idea that the first movie was mostly successful for its shock value. I had a very positive reaction to the original Ted when I saw it back in 2012, and the movie itself was riding a wave of positive buzz. I saw it again a year or so later on Blu-Ray, and it lacked much in the way of sustainability. Once you’ve seen it, you don't need to see it again. And Ted 2, when it wasn't appearing to be convoluted, looked like it was more of the same.
Felix Quinonez: I think a big part of the first film's success had to do with the novelty of the idea and no matter what, that was something that the sequel could never recapture. And when you add in the fact that the movie looked really lame and the reviews support that conclusion, it doesn't seem too surprising that it saw a big drop. Although I am surprised of just how big that drop was. Maybe A Million Ways to Die in the West turned more people off to MacFarlane's brand of humor than I thought.
Michael Lynderey: Well, I have to say that I called this one in my monthly forecast (or, to put a different spin on it, I finally got one right!). Ted was, to put it mildly, a mega-hit. It really captured lightning in a bottle, though, and MacFarlane's brand has slowly been weathered down from its high in 2012. There was always the chance that Ted 2 was going to pull a Hangover 2 and basically double the income from this idea, but I just had a feeling that the first film wasn't well liked enough to guarantee that. I did think the marketing had gotten better lately, and tying the film to current political debates was pretty clever. I'll assume the lack of Mila Kunis really was the deciding factor here.
Kim Hollis: I think we have yet another great example of how internet trends have impacted box office behavior. Ted is a well-liked movie that generated a lot of goodwill, even if it was perhaps not eminently re-watchable. Theoretically, the audience that supported it in later weekends and on home video should have grown enough that we would have seen an expanded opening weekend. Instead, after Seth MacFarlane’s stumbles over the past few years, including hosting the Oscars and the stink of failure around A Million Ways to Die in the West, left an impression. Ted 2 was going to need good reviews and social media/audience response in order to even match the first film. Instead, people are likely thinking to themselves that they can wait to watch it when it’s available to rent or buy on streaming services. It’s simply not critical big-screen viewing.
David Mumpower: I understand that sequels are generally derivative, but Ted 2 in particular lowers the bar. Even the poster tells a less funny story than the original did. The first one had this hysterical shot of a teddy bear sitting at his computer, *ahem* enjoying himself. It was funny, because it showed how the teddy bear was just like the average person. The poster for the sequel has him turned away, looking like someone about to be arrested in an alley for indecent exposure.
Ted becomes the latest example of a one-off concept that never needed a sequel yet got one anyway, causing audiences to shrug collectively. Famous examples include Miss Congeniality, Legally Blonde, and Horrible Bosses. Each of the original titles featured a killer premise with best case scenario execution. The sequels…well, let’s just call them all unfortunate members of the Highlander 2 Club. Ted 2 failed in the greenlight stage, so its failure in theaters was merely a formality.
My final thought here is that Ted was sold on the Seth MacFarlane brand. A Million Ways to Die in the West damaged that brand, possibly beyond repair. It’s to his credit that Ted 2 even managed what it did. That's a lot of people willing to overlook a recent cinematic atrocity.