Hollywood is already spinning a post-COVID comeback story, but the future of the movie business remains highly uncertain.

Like much of America, Hollywood isready for a wild summer.

“The Big Screen Is Back” was the message, and that message was delivered repeatedly.

J.J. Abramsstopped by to wax rhapsodic about the power of cinema.

“It’s in your house.

It’s smaller than you, you could turn it off, change it, and control it.

With the movies, you’re the child and it’s the parent.

You look up to it.

It controls you and it is taking you where it wants to take you.”

“Personally, some of my absolute best life experiences happened in rooms like this,” he added.

“I think it will come back in a roaring way.”

Tellingly, the words"HBO Max"were never uttered during this presentation.

says Patrick Corcoran, VP and chief communications officer of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

It’s a question of, where do you make the most money?"

And this summer could be huge relatively speaking, at least.

“And right now, all those things are heading in the right direction.”

“It’s probably going to happen gradually over a number of weeks.

But it may also break loose like crazy.”

“That’s the number I’m looking at to have a successful summer.

And there are definitely 10 to 12 that I think have the potential to do that.

But that just comes down to consumer confidence, and nobody has a direct bead on that yet.

And we won’t until things start rolling on Memorial Day weekend.”

That doesn’t mean Hollywood isn’t already trying.

Domestic ticket sales totaled almost $190 million in April, up 300 percent from February.

“I would stay for any of the movies previewed here today.

There is buzz in the creative community about movie theaters opening.

That’s where most artists want to see their work.”

“It’s going to be about, ‘How did you feel going back to theaters?

Did you feel safe?

Was it a good experience?'”

(By all accounts, it issafe for fully vaccinated peopleto go to a movie theater.)

As Bock sees it, “It is live or die for a lot of chains this summer.”