1. New Year's Eve- $13.7M
Maybe America is wising up to these lame ass Garry Marshall love fests. At least I hope so. Valentine's Day, which features the exact same creative team and practically the same crowded roster of talent, opened at $56M. It also had the benefit of truly being centered on a holiday that fit the subject matter, when really New Year's Eve is just about getting lit and banging whoever is just as drunk and horny as you. Still, Warner Brothers can't be happy, as analyst projections placed it's debut at somewhere around $20M+. It's indicative of the overall poor showing by all the films this week, with the $78M total being the worst since 2008.
2. The Sitter- $10M
The lousy 2011 for David Gordon Green continues following up on the disastrous performance of Your Highness. The Sitter didn't fare much better, opening to a weak $10M against a soft field of competition. Maybe now he'll give up all this low rent comedy crap and get back to making real movies again? Eh? The bigger question is what this says about Jonah Hill's future as a leading man. He's never going to be Tom Cruise, but does he have what it takes to be even a Jack Black? This is only his first solo starring shot out of the gate, so it's too early to make a final judgement.
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn pt. 1- $7.9M/$259.5M
4. The Muppets- $7M/$65.8M
All those parody trailers Disney crammed down our throats for months? This is what it bought them. A paltry $65M after three weeks on the charts. Disappointing to say the least.
5. Arthur Christmas- $6.6M/$33.5M
The holiday season is paying off as the animated flick only dipped about 10% from last week.
6. Hugo- $6.1M/$33.5M
7. The Descendants- $4.8M/$23.6M
As expected, The Descendants continues to roll right along with another 300 theaters added to it's total, and seeing an increase in audience for another week.
8. Happy Feet Two- $3.7M/$56.8M
9. Jack and Jill- $3.2M/$68.6M
10. Immortals- $2.4M/$79.8M
