Universal’s potty-mouthed cuddly toy harnessed enough of a following to knock The Hangover off its perch in the original R-rated comedy pantheon.

Media Rights Capital packaged and financed the project and teamed up with Universal for distribution. Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis star alongside the eponymous child’s toy, voiced by Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame, who directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. MacFarlane was also one of the producers.

Steven Soderbergh’s male stripper saga Magic Mike also exceeded expectations and came in second on $39.2m through Warner Bros. Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer and Matthew McConaughey star and FilmNation handled sales outside North America.

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection opened fourth on $26.4m in a typically solid delivery for Lionsgate’s longtime filmmaker collaborator Perry.

Pixar’s Brave added $34m to reach $131.7m through Buena Vista in the second weekend and ranks third. DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted stands at $180m after four weekends through Paramount.

Fox’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter fell three places to sixth and added $6m in the second weekend to reach $29m.

DreamWorks’s drama People Like Us with Elizabeth Banks and Chris Pine debuted in tenth place in 2,055 theatres while $4.3m while Fox Searchlight launched the Sundance hit Beasts Of The Southern Wildoutside the top ten on $169,000 from four theatres for a mighty $42,250 average.

Marvel Studios’ The Avengers ranks eleventh and stands at $606.3m through Buena Vista after nine weekends.

Next weekend’s wide releases include Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans, Paramount’s documentary Katy Perry: Part Of Me and Universal’s Oliver Stone drug thriller Savages.

Estimated Top 10 North America Jun 29-Jul 1 2012
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Ted (Universal) UPI $54.1m –

2 (-) Magic Mike (Warner Bros) FilmNation $39.2m –

3 (1) Brave (Buena Vista-Pixar) WDSMPI $34m $131.7m

4 (-) Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection (Lionsgate) Lionsgate International $26.4m

5 (2) Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (Paramount-DreamWorks Animation) PPI $11.8m $180m

6 (3) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Fox) Fox Int’l $6m $29m

7 (4) Prometheus (Fox) Fox Int’l $4.93m $118.3m

8 (11) Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features) FFI $4.87m $18.4m

9 (5) Snow White And The Huntsman (Universal) UPI $4.4m $145.6m

10 (-) People Like Us (Buena Vista-DreamWorks) WDSMPI $4.3m –

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