You’re watching Beyond The Trailer’s review of Ted 2...

Sure in hindsight, it was pretty dumb for Fox to pass on Ted, who had first dibs on

any movies from their Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. But even Universal, who picked

up Ted, couldn’t have imagined it would earn half a BILLION worldwide at the box office.

Instead, one would assume MacFarlane’s first film would perform more like his second - A

Million Ways to Die in the West - which couldn’t even top fifty million domestic, nor one hundred

million worldwide. So what was the anomaly? Ted, or A Million Ways to Die in the West?

It would seem Hollywood feels it’s the latter, as not a single movie has been scheduled to

open opposite Ted 2. And Mark Wahlberg does seem to be on a roll, with Transformers Age

of Extinction the only film to join the billion dollar club last year - plus Lone Survivor

and 2 Guns were both solid hits. Sure there was The Gambler, but hopefully that’s just

HIS anomaly. Now Hollywood has not only taken note of Ted’s success, but tried to copy

it. Just as Family Guy raised the bar for crude comedy on TV, it would seem Ted did

the same for movies. We’re the Millers was another huge hit following in Ted’s wake,

and this summer Ted 2 will have to compete with the similarly crude Trainwreck and Vacation.

Yes while nobody has been able to come close to MacFarlane on the small screen, it would

seem competition is a lot fiercer on the big screen. It will also be interesting to see

if Mila Kunis aka Meg was a genuine factor in the first film’s success, or if this

really is the Mark and Seth show. Amanda Seyfried is the new female lead, while Ted 2 boasts

a little more star-power than its predecessor with Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Tom Brady,

David Hasselhoff, 24’s Dennis Haysbert and even Mad Men’s John Slattery joining the

cast. Then again, a bevy of stars didn’t do much to help A Million Ways to Die in the West...

So, can Seth MacFarlane score once again? Or should he be afraid that lightning WON’T strike again?