'Ted,' 'Magic Mike' dominate weekend box office

After a month of so-so box office returns outside of the realm of animation, June ended with a bang this weekend with two R-rated comedies dominating the returns.

The comedy grossed $54.1 million.

"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane's feature film directorial debut, "Ted," vastly exceeded expectations, grossing a massive $54.1 million. Not only was it good enough for first place, the total was the eighth highest opening weekend for an R-rated film ever.

Debuting in second place was the similarly R-rated "Magic Mike," from director Steven Soderbergh, which took home $39.1 million.

Falling to third place was last week's winner "Brave," which grossed a solid second-week total of $34 million. Over its first 10 days, the Pixar film has earned $131 million.

"Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection" was in fourth place with $26.3 million, more than its entire production budget.

"Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" added another $11.8 million in its fourth weekend, good enough to round out the top five and bringing its sizable total to $180 million.

Wes Anderon's "Moonrise Kingdom," enjoyed a solid expansion over the weekend, jumping to eighth place with $4.8 million.

Meanwhile, "People Like Us," the fourth major release of the weekend, barely made the top 10 with only $4.3 million.

The complete list of the weekend's top 10 grossing films is:

1. "Ted," $54.1 million (New)
2. "Magic Mike," $39.1 million (New)
3. "Brave," $34 million (Total: $131.6 million)
4. "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection," $26.3 million (New)
5. "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," $11.8 million (Total: $180 million)
6. "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," $6 million (Total: $29 million)
7. "Prometheus," $4.9 million (Total: $118.2 million)
8. "Moonrise Kingdom," $4.8 million (Total: $18.4)
9. "Snow White and the Huntsman," $4.4 million (Total: $145.5 million)
10. "People Like Us," $4.3 million (New)

Pixar announced two new films for 2013 and 2014

At Disney's D23 Expo held this weekend in Anaheim, Calif., the studio announced two new Pixar films slated for release in late 2013 and the summer of 2014.

Bob Peterson

The first, which will be directed by Bob Peterson and produced by John Walker, supposes what the world would be like today if the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs hadn't hit the Earth, allowing them to live on and evolve.

The as-yet-untitled film is set for release on Nov. 27, 2013.

Peterson was co-director on the Academy Award-winning "Up," for which he also had story and screenplay credits, as well as voicing the talking dog Dug. He has a long history with Pixar, having served as story artist for "A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story 2," and also worked on the original "Toy Story."

The second untitled Pixar film announced at D23 will explore "a place that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen: the world inside the human mind." Directed by Pete Docter and produced by Jonas Rivera, the movie will be released May 30, 2014. It has been previously reported that Pixar was eying a May 2014 date for a future Pixar release, and it would seem this is it.

Pete Docter

Docter has had his hand in almost every Pixar project, directing "Up" and "Monsters, Inc.," and receiving story credit on "Toy Story," "Toy Story 2," "Monsters, Inc.," "WALL·E" and "Up."

The newly announced films will follow fellow forthcoming Pixar projects "Brave" (June 22, 2012) and Monsters University (June 21, 2013), a prequel to 2011's "Monsters, Inc."

Until this summer's "Cars 2," Pixar has enjoyed an almost unbroken string of critical and box office successes. Despite the bump in the road, the studio's track record proves it should be able to easily get back on track.

Disney planning two Marvel film releases during summer of 2014

Apparently in response to Columbia Picture's announcement last Friday that the sequel to next summer's "The Amazing Spider-Man" will open the 2014 blockbuster season, Disney, parent company of Marvel Comics, has laid claim to two other summer 2014 dates.

According to Deadline, Disney has set release dates for as-yet-unannounced Marvel films on May 16, 2014, and June 27, 2014.

Disney is making plans for 2014.

The film rights to "Spider-Man," like the "X-Men," were not included in Disney's purchase of Marvel and are under the control of Columbia and Fox respectively. Paramount has been releasing the Marvel self-produced films which began with 2008's "Iron Man," but Disney bought the rights to future projects, beginning with next year's "The Avengers."

Disney already has their 2013 arsenal planned, with "Iron Man 3" set for May 3, 2013, and "Thor 2" on July 26, 2013.

The only other film set for the summer of 2014 had been Dreamworks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon 2" on June 20, but included in today's announcement was that Pixar will release a film on May 16, although what that might be is unknown.