Indeed, initial box-office returns for the third “Spider-Man” movie have felt like a psychological balm for a movie industry cast into crisis mode about its future.
At key moments, there were whoops, cheers and appreciative laughs — loud in places, more muted in others where the references surely played to a subsection of the audience.
Although there have been some successes during the pandemic, there’s a growing sense that the movie industry might never fully rebound to where it was in 2019.
“I’ve been doing this long enough to know I’ve heard the bold statement that ‘This is it.
Hollywood can’t pivot on a dime, but the forecast for movies in theaters has become even more Darwinian, favoring a very select few that meet the criteria to qualify as an event.
But for this weekend, anyway, as millions flock to the movies, it’s nice to see that the pipes still work.