New Year’s Eve Bombs Big Time – Biff Bam Pop’s Box Office Wrap-Up Report, Weekend of December 9th

I hope nobody was particularly invested in the performance of New Year’s Eve this weekend, since it wound up being a colossal bomb at the box office in its first weekend out. I could hardly have been more far off on this one, and I’m quite surprised. However, Jonah Hill should give us here at Biff Bam Pop a ring when he picks his next film, since we nailed his latest endeavour, The Sitter. Here’s how the weekend turned out:

Not only did the ensemble comedy New Year’s Eve underwhelm and underperform, it did so in a magnificent way. Based on the track record of director Garry Marshall’s last film, Valentine’s Day, which had an opening weekend of over $50 million, I was certain his latest would bring in at least $32 million. Instead, the film did less than half that, debuting with an abysmal $13 million. Unless there’s a Christmas miracle, there’s no way this one will gross more than $50-$60 million max during its run, and I’m doubtful it will even make it that high.

Meanwhile, the other new release of the weekend, Jonah Hill’s The Sitter, made $10 million to debut in second place. I was spot on with the gross, but not the placement. Clearly, the R-rated comedy has been played out in 2011. The Sitter should fade from theatres quickly.

As for the rest of the top five, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 feel to third place, gross $7.9 million (I had predicted a second place showing with $14 million). Currently, the film has brought in $259 million domestically; I doubt it will reach the magical $300 million mark in North America.

Meanwhile, The Muppets dropped to fourth place with $7 million, a million less than our prediction, while Arthur Christmas rounded out the top five with $6.6 million. I hadn’t made a prediction on that one, as I thought Hugo would have made the top five. Instead, it fell to sixth with $6.1 million.

So, to recap, here were our predictions:

1) New Year’s Eve – $32 million
2) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 – $14 million
3) The Sitter – $10 million
4) The Muppets – $8 million 
5) Hugo – $7 million

And here’s how the weekend turned out:

1) New Year’s Eve – $13 million
2) The Sitter – $10 million
3) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 – $7.9 million
4) The Muppets – $7 million 
5) Arthur Christmas – $6.6 million

Look for the box office to really shake up next weekend with the release of Alvin and the Chipmunks 3, Sherlock Holmes 2, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Young Adults. Check back on Friday and see what we predict!