Ted

CHICAGO – Even the most confident people behind the scenes of Seth MacFarlane’s “Ted” must have been blown away by its success, arguably the most surprising hit of 2012. $100 million domestic would have made the movie a success but it made double that and half-a-billion worldwide, ranking as the 7th highest grossing R-rated film of all time domestically. It’s a phenomenon and Universal treats it thusly with a nicely-packed Blu-ray release with deleted scenes, featurettes, and more.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Combo Pack with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 5 free Blu-ray and DVD combo packs up for grabs for the highly anticipated home entertainment release of “Ted” starring Mark Wahlberg from “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane!

CHICAGO – Seth MacFarlane, the writer/director of “Ted” and creator of “Family Guy” & “American Dad,” was announced today as the unexpected choice to host the “85th Annual Academy Awards,” to be broadcast on Sunday, February 24, 2013 on ABC.

CHICAGO – Critically reviled “The Watch” with Ben Stiller & Vince Vaughn opened with downright depressing numbers, good enough for only third place. Meanwhile, “Step Up: Revolution” claimed fourth while “The Dark Knight Rises” tumbled over 60% in its second frame.

CHICAGO – “The Dark Knight Rises,” the final film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy with Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, and Joseph Gordon-Leviitt, opened with a stunning $160.9 million. While the opening was huge, it seems clear that the horrific shooting in Colorado last week did keep some viewers away as most journalists were predicting an opening closer to $200 million.

CHICAGO – Fox’s “Ice Age: Continental Drift” under-performed domestically but still opened strongly enough to take first place at the box office and is riding a huge wave of box office overseas. Meanwhile, “The Amazing Spider-man” fell a reasonable percentage and held on to 2nd place, just ahead of juggernaut “Ted.”

CHICAGO – Whether or not it’s a hit depends on who you ask but Sony’s “The Amazing Spider-man” easily dominated the box office with $65 million over the three-day weekend and $140 million since it opened on July 3, 2012. Big numbers for sure but “Transformers” made $155.4 million in 2007 dollars over its first six days at the same time of year. They’d never admit it, but Sony is probably disappointed that they couldn’t crack $175 million.

CHICAGO – Two R-rated offerings shattered expectations at the box office this weekend as “Ted” and “Magic Mike” not only proved that adults still go see movies in the Summer season but that original concepts can make for massive hits. While rehashed fare like “Rock of Ages,” “Battleship,” and “Dark Shadows” have all stumbled, “Ted” and “Magic Mike” will out-gross all three.

CHICAGO – “Ted” is one of the most inventive and surprising films of the year. It has a sense of humor that will be very familiar to fans of writer/director Seth MacFarlane’s “Family Guy” but is refreshingly unique in a film genre that is too often stale. In fact, most of the Summer 2012 movies have been incredibly predictable and there’s NOTHING predictable about “Ted.”

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 25 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the highly anticipated new “R”-rated comedy “Ted” starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis from “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane!