LOS ANGELES — It was the year that the box office recovery from the COVID-19 catastrophe began to take shape.
Blockbusters hit the big screen, led by Tom Cruise, giant people-eating dinosaurs and James Cameron's tall, blue Na'vi. One year after Warner Bros. sent its entire release slate to HBO Max and cinemas simultaneously, the Burbank studio's movie posters boasted "only in theaters" like old times. In a show of confidence, the head of the world's biggest theater chain rolled down the streets of Pasadena in a Rose Parade float.
But it wasn't enough.
