The surprise, says Disney distribution chief Chuck Viane, is that although the PG-rated film was aimed at families with children, 18% of the audience was couples without children.

"They were just looking for something to enjoy and get lost in for a couple of hours," Viane says.

Meanwhile, Watchmen, the critically panned graphic-novel adaptation, didn't drop as much as expected. It took in $18.1 million, off 67% from its $55.2 million opening — still a respectable showing.

Dan Fellman of Warner Bros., which released the film, says that though exit polling hasn't been completed, "my gut tells me we are getting older males now."

Both are evidence that the moviegoing audience might be changing. The 12% rise in year-to-date receipts and a 15% jump in attendance appears to be from new viewers, not hard-core moviegoers returning for more.

As a result, more films are lingering in the top 10, distributors say. "Films have been holding steady for a very long time," Fellman says. "More people are going to the movies, and due to economic conditions, the audience has gotten a lot older — it has really broadened out."

Among top 10 films that have been playing for weeks:

•Taken is No. 4 this week with $6.7 million, a drop of just 9% from the previous week. After seven weekends, the crime drama has never ranked lower than No. 4. Its total gross is $126.8 million.

•Best-picture Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire is chugging along, too. In its 18th week of release, it's No. 6 with $5 million and a total of $132.6 million. It's now one of the 10 highest-grossing best-picture winners, bumping The Departed to No. 11.

•Other stalwarts include Paul Blart: Mall Cop ($3.1 million in Weekend 9, for $137.8 million total), He's Just Not That Into You ($2.9 million in Week 6, for $89 million) and Coraline ($2.7 million in Week 6, for $69.2 million).

This weekend's other new films hope to emulate their staying power. Horror remake The Last House on the Left landed at No. 3 with a solid $14.7 million, but raunchy comedy Miss March earned a meager $2.3 million.

In limited release, the quirky Sunshine Cleaning opened with the best per-screen average of any film this year, $53,000. It played on four screens and expands to 15 more markets this week. Final numbers are due today.