The theory that audiences would wait for the tentpole movies of July before opening their wallets went down in flames this weekend as two all-original movies (R-rated ones at that) delivered stellar openings. Ted and Magic Mike bested Brave by taking first and second place: nearly doubling their pre-weekend projections and giving box office watchers a lot more to consider than the imminent arrival of The Amazing Spider-Man.

So, it appears the answer to the question “did I underestimate the blockbuster potential of Ted” is a giant “Oh Hell Yes.”  From its first day in 3,239 locations the R-rated comedy from first-time film director Seth MacFarlane (the Family Guy guy) made an estimated $20.2 million. And this from a movie that was projected to earn only $25 million for its first weekend! With Friday’s huge win, Ted is now poised to take in double that by Sunday – a figure that would top The Hangover as the all-time highest debut from an R-rated (non-sequel) comedy. But Friday’s surprises were not limited to talking teddy bears. Magic Mike, the R-rated male-stripper movie starring Channing Tatum, was also a giant over-performer with an estimated $19.4 million from 2,930 venues. Again, that is just under what Magic Mike was projected to earn in its first three days. Meanwhile, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection, in 2,161 locations, also had a bigger-than-expected first Friday, taking in an estimated $10.25 million for what should prove a $27 million opening weekend. In fact, of yesterday’s four major new releases, only the Disney-distributed People Like Us played as expected – opening outside the top five with a modest $1.4 million.  We’ll have full details and analysis of this weekend’s box office tomorrow.

Poster round-up!  Here’s what we got:

• A new international poster from Prometheus, which opens June 8th.
• The Expendables 2 poster, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis.  The Expendables sequel opens August 17th.
• Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection opens June 29th.
• Killer Joe, starring Matthew McConaughey, opens May 25th.
• Ruby Sparks, featuring Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan, opens September 20th.
• People Like Us, starring Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks, opens June 29th.

Hit the jump to check out the posters and synopses.

We learned the release dates for one Billy Crystal/Bette Midler movie and three Tyler Perry movies tonight.  So something for everyone!

• Fox moved the Crystal/Midler comedy Parental Guidance from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day 2012.
• Perry will reprise his role as Madea in Madea’s Witness Protection on June 29.
• We the Peeples, which Perry is merely “presenting”, is moving from March 29, 2013 to May 10, 2013.
• The Marriage Counselor brings Perry back to write and direct, taking the old Peeples slot on March 29, 2013.

Hit the jump for what we know about each project.