A sequel to the biggest comedy of Mark Wahlberg's career is currently one of the most-watched films on Netflix streaming worldwide.
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When it was released in 2012, Ted was the most successful film of Mark Wahlberg’s career. After movies like Date Night and The Other Guys, Ted proved that Wahlberg could be a comedy star. The film made more than $549 million – over ten times its original budget – and showed that Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane could do more than just television. It’s no surprise that Universal Studios said they would be making a sequel as soon as possible, and three years later came the release of Ted 2. Now, this sequel is currently the #10 most-watched movie on Netflix worldwide.
The first Ted focused on John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), who had to balance his relationship with his lifelong best friend Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – a teddy bear who came to life – and his girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis). In the end, everyone lives happily ever after, John and Lori get married, and Ted accepts a life that doesn’t rely on his best friend and continues a relationship with his co-worker Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth).
That’s mostly all irrelevant in Ted 2, since Lori has divorced John, and the story now revolves around Ted and Tami-Lynn trying to have a baby together. In order to adopt a child, Ted has to prove that he’s a person in a court of law. Naturally, Mark Wahlberg’s John is there to help his old teddy bear friend out in a story even weirder than the first film.
Ted 2 adds some pretty big names to the sequel, including Amanda Seyfried as Samantha Jackson, Ted’s lawyer trying to prove that the bear is a person and not property, as well as Morgan Freeman and John Slattery. In addition to Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane returning, ted 2 also sees the return of Ted’s stalker Donny, played by Giovanni Ribisi, and a MacFarlane favorite, Patrick Warburton. As one would expect from a Seth MacFarlane film, Ted 2 features quite a few cameos, like Tom Brady, David Hasselhoff, Jimmy Fallon, Jay Leno, Bobby Moynihan, and Kate McKinnon.
Ted 2 did significantly worse at the box-office than the original film, making $215 million worldwide, however, that’s still pretty good considering its $68 million budget. As of right now, Ted is the third highest-grossing film of Mark Wahlberg’s career, behind only Transformers: Age of Extinction and Transformers: The Last Knight, while Ted 2 is currently the actor’s eighth highest-grossing film, and third-biggest comedy.
Ted 2 also received significantly worse reviews than the first film, as it currently has a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, compared to the first Ted’s 69% (Ted would certainly love that). Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said “If you’re ready to go with the hit-and-miss flow, you’ll laugh your ass off,” while Chris Nathawaty of Entertainment Weekly said “You realize what it must be like to be trapped in detention with a bunch of 15-year-old boys who think there’s nothing more hilarious than repeating the same jokes about porn, pot, and pulling your pud over and over again. It’s funny, until it’s not.”
Before the release of Ted 2, Seth MacFarlane said that if the sequel matched the success of the first film, there was the possibility of a Ted 3. Of course, Ted 2 did worse at the box-office and with critics, and even a few months after the sequel’s release, MacFarlane said there were no immediate plans for a third film. Six years later, there are still no rumors even of a Ted 3 anymore, while it seems like the dual failures of A Million Ways to Die in the West and Ted 2 were the end of MacFarlane’s film directing career for now.
Since Ted 2, Mark Wahlberg has mostly stuck to action films, however, the few comedies he has put out have been more family-friendly than the Ted franchise. In the same year as Ted 2, Wahlberg also released Daddy’s Home with his The Other Guys costar, Will Ferrell. In 2017, the film would get a sequel with Daddy’s Home 2. 2018 also saw the family comedy Instant Family, with Wahlberg and Rose Byrne.
Last year, Mark Wahlberg starred in the Netflix original action film, Spenser Confidential, and voiced the Blue Falcon in Scoob!. Wahlberg will soon be releasing the drama Joe Bell, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to lukewarm reviews. He also has the sci-fi action film Infinite coming on May 28, 2021 with Dylan O’Brien, Jason Mantzoukas, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Finally, in 2022, Wahlberg will star in Uncharted with Tom Holland playing Nathan Drake.
Currently, Mark Wahlberg’s Ted 2 is one of the most-watched films on Netflix worldwide, but currently isn’t available on the streaming service in the United States. However, you can see the adventures of Wahlberg and his talking teddy bear in the U.S. through FuboTV or on the FXNOW app.
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