Last year, the hopes of a fruitful summer box office free from the shackles of the pandemic or Hollywood strikes were dashed , as a handful of underperforming films kept the domestic total flat from the prior year at $3.6 billion. But with a lineup filled with a higher quantity of films, highly anticipated franchise titles and top films from Hollywood’s most acclaimed directors, there are high expectations that this will be the best summer for theaters since before the pandemic, surpassing the $