FIRST BOX OFFICE: New Years Eve #1, Breaking Dawn #2, The Sitter Weak #3

FRIDAY 5 PM: I’m in a hurry so this is just a quickie. No surprises since Warner Bros’ New Years Eve was expected to unseat Summit’s Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 after three straight weeks at No. 1. Fox’s The Sitter is looking even worse than the lowered expectations going into this North American weekend. Refined numbers and full analysis tonight: 1. New Years Eve (Warner Bros) NEW [3,505 Theaters] Friday $6.5M, Estimated Weekend$19M 2.Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Summit) Week 4 [3,605 Theaters] Friday $3M, Estimated Weekend $10M 3. TheSitter (Fox) NEW [2,750 Theaters] Friday $3.5M, Estimated Weekend$9.5M 4. The Muppets (Disney) Week 3 [3,328 Theaters] Friday $2M, Estimated Weekend $8M 5. Hugo (Paramount) Week 3 [2,608 Theaters] Friday $1.8M, Estimated Weekend $6.5M 6.Arthur Christmas (Sony) Week 3 [3,272 Theaters] Friday $1.3M, Estimated Weekend $5.5M 7. The Descendants (Fox Searchlight) Week 4 [876 Theaters] Friday $1.2M, Estimated Weekend $4.2M Specialty Openings: Paramount’s Young Adult is looking “a little soft” in 8 theaters, rival studios tell me, while Focus Features’European hitTinker Tailor Soldier Spy “looks pretty good” in 4 runs.