‘Pacifier’ attracts wide audience, in numbers

The softer side of Vin Diesel prevailed at the nation’s theaters this weekend as “The Pacifier” attracted a broad spectrum of moviegoers, dominated by families and kids under 12 but otherwise divided fairly evenly among all ages up to people 50 and older.

“This is a very happy day for us,” said Chuck Viane, president of Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures Distribution arm. Audiences for the film, which grossed an estimated $30.2 million, consisted of 60% families, 20% couples and 20% teens, Viane said.

Broken down by age, kids 2 to 11 made up 23% of the audience, and among other groups up to people 50 and over, the numbers were distributed surprisingly evenly. Ages 12 to 17 represented 19% of moviegoers for “The Pacifier”; 15% were 18 to 25, 18% were 26 to 34, and 17% were 35 to 49. People 50 and older made up 7% of the audience. (Rounding numbers resulted in percentages that don’t add up to 100.)

“Be Cool,” with John Travolta returning as Chili Palmer in the sequel to 1995’s “Get Shorty,” came in at No. 2 with $23.5 million. MGM distribution executive Erik Lomis said the audience for “Be Cool,” which is now Travolta’s biggest opening (previously it was “Face/Off”) skewed only slightly female at 51.5%, with 22.4% of the total made up of males under 25 and 26.1% males over 25. Females under 25 represented 23.7% of the audience, and women over 25 were 27.8%.

Fresh off its Oscar victory, “Million Dollar Baby” posted a 15% jump in business over the previous weekend. The winner of best picture, director, actress and supporting actor added an estimated $8.5 million, bringing its total to $77 million. Warner Bros. President of distribution Dan Fellman was confident Oscar momentum would propel Clint Eastwood’s drama beyond $100 million.

While “The Pacifier” was not Diesel’s biggest opening, it was an improvement over the disappointing sci-fi saga “The Chronicles of Riddick,” which took in $24.3 million in its first weekend last June on its way to $57.8 million, according to box office tracker Boxofficemojo.com.

Despite chalking up Travolta’s best opening figure, “Be Cool” is the second consecutive wide release of one of the actor’s movies to take in more than $20 million and come in at second place to a kid’s movie, according to another tracking firm, Nielsen EDI.

The Disney studio’s firefighting drama “Ladder 49” opened with $22.1 million on the Oct. 1 weekend, behind “Shark Tale’s” $47.6 million.