BOX OFFICE 'The Pacifier' shows Diesel in new light

Vin Diesel proves who's cool in his conquest of the box office ratings, at least for one week.
ZAP2IT.COM
LOS ANGELES -- Vin Diesel -- starring as a military hero who finds himself taking care of kids in "The Pacifier" -- won the weekend at the box office, taking in an estimated $30.2 million.
According to Exhibitor Relations reports, "Pacifier" beat "Be Cool," which earned $23.5 million in second place. It turns out that "Pacifier" is one of Diesel's best openings, and "Cool's" second place spot is one of John Travolta's best openings.
Proving he can open a family comedy as easily as a high-action film, Diesel's past personal bests have been "XXX" at $44.5 million and "Fast and the Furious" opening at $40 million. The ensemble war film "Saving Private Ryan," which he was in, opened at $30.5 million and more recently, "The Chronicles of Riddick" captured $24.3 million its opening weekend.
He's still hot
Travolta's past best includes "Face/Off" at $23.4 million, "The General's Daughter" at $22.3 million and "Ladder 49" at $22 million. The original hit film "Get Shorty," which has some of the same characters from "Be Cool," opened at $12.7 million and ended up making $72 million.
Third place over the weekend went to Will Smith's comedy "Hitch" which took in $12.5 million and last week's best opener, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," fell to fourth place, dropping 45 percent and bringing in $12 million.
This year's best picture, "Million Dollar Baby," was the only film in the top 10 that had an increase from the previous week, getting a 16 percent boost and making $8.5 million in fifth place, for a cumulative $76.9 million at the box office.
The biggest percentage drop last weekend was for "Man of the House," which fell 61 percent, from fifth to eighth place, earning $3.5 million and $13 million total, and "Cursed," which fell 60 percent from the fourth to seventh spot, making $3.8 million and earning a total of $15 million.
This week, the animated film "Robots" opens against the Bruce Willis action film "Hostage" and a re-released, tamer version of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."