'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)

Steven Soderbergh speaks out about 'The Hunger Games'

A month after it was first reported that Steven Soderbergh ("Ocean's 11," "Traffic") was on the set of "The Hunger Games" helping out with some second unit work, the director is speaking out about his experiences with the project.

Steven Soderbergh

Attempting to quash rumors why he was he was helping out, Soderbergh spoke with Moviefone, saying, "I show up in North Carolina, a crewmember Tweets, 'Steven Soderbergh's here.'' And immediately the...firestorm starts. 'Why is he here? What's going on? Is the movie in trouble? Is he directing footage from the second one?" All of this crazy-ass speculation. People just spinning off.

Soderbergh and "The Hunger Games" director Gary Ross have worked together before, as the former helped produce the latter's 1998 film "Pleasantville."

According to Soderbergh, "The story is really simple. Back in April, Gary--who is a close friend of mine I've exchanged creative favors with non-stop over the last 15 years--when he got the boards for the shoot in April called me and said, 'Hey, first week of August, I got these two days of second unit. Is there any way you can come down and help me out? Because I'd rather have you do it than hire somebody who I don't know.' I said, 'Actually, that works out.' We'll just be finishing 'Contagion' and prepping 'Magic Mike' and, yeah, it could be fun."

Steven Soderbergh helping out 'The Hunger Games'

Director Steven Soderbergh ("Ocean's 11," "Traffic") has joined "The Hunger Games" production as second unit director.

Entertainment Weekly today confirmed earlier reports Soderbergh was helping out the project.

The film arrives March 23, 2012.

“It’s true he’s shooting two days of second unit,” director Gary Ross told EW. “He’s one of my best friends and we all help each other a little bit on these things.”

In addition to his work here, Soderbergh produced Ross' 1998 film "Pleasantville."

Ross also gave EW an update on where filming is on the adaptation of Suzanne Collins' best selling trilogy.

“We’ve already done a lot of action-y stuff,” Ross said. “We’ve burned down a forest, we’ve had the fire sequence, we blew up this pyramid of stuff that went 150 feet up in the air, and we had suitcases flying over a quarter of a mile.”

The cast for "The Hunger Games" includes Jennifer Lawrence ("Winter's Bone"), Josh Hutcherson ("Bridge to Terabithia"), Donald Sutherland ("The Mechanic") Lenny Kravitz ("Precious"), Woody Harrelson ("Zombieland"), Liam Hemsworth ("The Last Song"), Elizabeth Banks ("The Next Three Days"), Paula Malcomson ("Sons of Anarchy"), Wes Bentley ("American Beauty"), Stanley Tucci ("The Lovely Bones") and newcomer Willow Shields ("Beyond the Blackboard").

The film is set for a March 23, 2012, release.