‘Robots’ grinds its way to the top spot

As swiftly as its characters and action move, “Robots,” the new computer-animated adventure from 20th Century Fox, had a somewhat slower than anticipated start this weekend with an estimated $36.5 million. It faced off against a stronger than expected second weekend for the Vin Diesel family film, “The Pacifier,” as well as decidedly mixed reviews from the nation’s critics.

The $75-million Fox movie fell short of the $46.3 million debut of the first film from Chris Wedge and Blue Sky Studios, “Ice Age.” Released on roughly the same date back in March 2002, “Ice Age” faced little competition for the family marketplace.

With business for Disney’s Diesel down an acceptable 40% in its second weekend, the studio reported “The Pacifier’ took in an estimated $18.1 million, bringing its total to $54.4 million.

“Robots” didn’t even make the Top 10 openings for animated movies, a list topped by “Shrek 2,” although all the films in that group but “Ice Age” were either summer or late-year holiday releases. The first quarter is traditionally a slower time for the movie business, but in recent years films such as “The Passion of the Christ,” “Hannibal” and “Ice Age” have attracted large numbers of ticket buyers.

Even so, Fox was sanguine about the results. “I never thought it would get to $40 million with ‘Pacifier’ there,” Fox’s president of distribution, Bruce Snyder, said Sunday morning. “Robots” business “went up 55%, from 10 million to 15.5 million, on Saturday,” Snyder said, which suggests the film could demonstrate strength in the long run. Snyder noted that ticket sales for “Ice Age” “went up 42% from Friday to Saturday” and the film went on to gross $176.4 million.

“Robots” and “Pacifier” together took in an estimated $54.6 million. “That’s a lot of family business,” Snyder said.

Fox also opened “Robots” in a 2-D Imax version in 58 locations that took in an estimated $1.4 million over the weekend, or $24,700 per theater, roughly two-thirds of the business for the 3-D Imax version of the holiday movie “The Polar Express.”

Demographically, the audience for “Robots” was 76% families, or 32% parents and 44% children under 12, and 23% non-family. The audience was evenly divided between males and females, Snyder said.

Snyder remained optimistic for the film’s durability as more kids are out of school on spring break. By Easter, more than two-thirds of the nation’s schoolkids are expected to be out on holiday. Disney spokesman Dennis Rice echoed those sentiments for “The Pacifier.”

Fox Searchlight Pictures took a different tack with “Millions,” releasing Danny Boyle’s family film in five locations in New York and Los Angeles, taking in $72,987, or $14,507 per location.

Steve Gilula, president of distribution for Searchlight, said the movie will expand into seven more cities this weekend in up to 19 theaters.

“This will be a long, slow expansion through April,” said Gilula, who likened the film to “Whale Rider,” another offbeat family movie that went on to gross more than $20 million.

Mel Gibson’s edited version of “The Passion of the Christ,” meanwhile, opened in 954 theaters with an estimated $225,000 ($236 per venue). The low take suggests that the audience for the movie was satiated by the initial blockbuster theatrical and DVD release last year.

Blockbusters of the past, such as “The Ten Commandments” or “Gone With the Wind,” were successfully re-released to theaters numerous times after their initial runs, although those films came out well before the era of home video.

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Box Office

Preliminary results (in millions) based on studio projections.

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total Robots $36.5 $36.5

The Pacifier 18.1 54.4

Be Cool 10.3 38.4

Hostage 9.8 9.8

Hitch 8.7 149.8

Million Dollar Baby 5.1 84.0

Diary of a Mad Black Woman 5.0 44.1

Constantine 3.7 66.3

Man of the House 1.8 16.6

Cursed 1.6 17.8

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Source: Nielsen EDI Inc.

Los Angeles Times