Seth McFarlane’s TED Sets Unexpected Record Proving Franchise Can Survive Without Mark Wahlberg
The brain behind the talking bear Ted, Seth McFarlane is back with the prequel of the comedy-drama. Released in 2012, the first installment of the franchise went on to become a massive hit. The movie had amassed a box office collection of $549.4 million against a budget of $50-$60 million.
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The sentient toy bear is back in the limelight after creating a record with respect to its viewership on the reputed streaming platform Peacock without Mark Wahlberg.
Seth McFarlane’s Ted Prequel Proves That It Can Easily Survive Without Mark Wahlberg
Seth MacFarlane made his directorial debut with Ted in 2012. The talking bear was voiced over by the director himself. The entire plot of the series revolves around an eight-year-old kid named John. He wishes that his bear would come to life and become his friend on seeing a shooting star and his wish is fulfilled. The entire franchise deals with the adventures of the little boy with his toy bear who behaves like a normal living being.
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The recently launched prequel of Ted has already become the talk of the town. With the viewership soaring sky-high, the show has went on to create a record on Peacock. According to the media outlet Collider, the prequel of Ted became the most-watched original title in the history of the streaming platform Peacock over its first three days. Mark Wahlberg played the older version of the character of John Benett in Ted. The current success of the prequel has already proven that the franchise can survive without The Family Plan actor.
‘TED’ became the most-watched original title in the history of Peacock over its first three days.
Read our review: https://t.co/9Lk10psnXI pic.twitter.com/HTeERQ6GAv
— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) January 16, 2024
During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Seth McFarlane spoke about the Ted prequel series. He said-
“In every episode, there are a handful of scenes that are real set pieces that I think are standout moments. You don’t always know what those are going to be while you’re shooting, and then you put it all together, and you realize that sometimes you’re right, sometimes you’re wrong. What people are going to see is seven episodes that are, in each instance, hopefully as hilarious and as comedically fulfilling as the film was. We really tried to pack them in the same way that we did the films.”
The prequel revolves around the hedonist toy bear and young John attending school and getting into a plethora of adventures.
Seth McFarlane On Why Mark Wahlberg Did Not Reprise His Role In Ted Prequel
During a recent interview with the reputed media outlet The Wrap, Seth McFarlane addressed one of the biggest concerns of the fans. The Orville star spoke about Mark Wahlberg’s absence from the prequel. The 50-year-old filmmaker was present along with Max Burkholder, the actor who is popular for playing the younger version of John Benett in the show. Seth McFarlane mentioned the actor’s schedule issue is one of the most important reasons behind his absence from the prequel. He said-
” The practical reason is Mark Wahlberg’s schedule. He’s got a million movies he’s working on at any given time, and so getting him to do a television series — his schedule just doesn’t permit that, let alone something that potentially goes for more than one season. It’s just tough. It doesn’t take too long to get to the idea of a prequel once you’re looking at that reality.”
Max Burkholder further added-
“[Mark Walhberg] did such an incredible job on both movies, and I’m coming in here as a fresh face playing this character. It was a little intimidating at first. But that went away pretty fast. It’s all there in the writing. It’s all in the comedy and in the heart, and in the relationship with Ted and Blair and the rest of the family. It was very easy to fall into once we got going with it but the first few days, I was nervous as hell.”
However, after the popularity of the prequel of Ted Season One, there is a strong possibility for the announcement of Ted Season 2.
The seven episodes of Ted is currently streaming on Peacock.