Audiences came out in full force for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as their new action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith opened powerfully at number one with an estimated $18.6M in its first day of release. The debut was stronger than the $16.9M opening Friday of last year's Pitt epic Troy and was a bit shy of the $19.1M opening day of The Bourne Supremacy last July. Those films enjoyed top spot debuts of $46.9M and $52.5M, respectively. This weekend, Smith could open with $51-55M over the three-day span.

The frame's other new titles generated less heat in their launches. Miramax's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D debuted with an estimated $3.9M on Friday while Paramount's The Honeymooners debuted to an estimated $1.8M. For the Friday-to-Sunday session, look for the effects-heavy kids film to gross $11-13M and the Cedric the Entertainer comedy to take in $5-6M.

Lions Gate released the French horror film High Tension on Friday and grossed an estimated $650,000 on its way to a weekend tally of just under $2M.

Among holdovers, Friday-to-Friday declines were 52% for Cinderella Man, 41% for Madagascar, 45% for Star Wars Episode III, and 48% for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

For a NEW review of Batman Begins, visit The Chief Report.

Last Updated: June 11, 2005 at 1:15PM EST

Written by Gitesh Pandya