Hollywood's summer box office is glowing, but the numbers come with startling caveats

Theaters have had something for everyone this summer, and fans are paying top dollar for premium formats like IMAX. There are also fewer moviegoers, fewer movies, and fewer screens than there were pre-COVID.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2400x1350+0+0/resize/2400x1350!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc9%2F57%2Fe178d5ae4527a73908862978ba44%2F4-images-horizontal.png' alt='Clockwise from top left: <em>Toy Story 5</em>, <em>Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey </em>and <em>Backrooms</em>.'/><p>Theaters have had something for everyone this summer, and fans are paying top dollar for premium formats like IMAX. There are also fewer moviegoers, fewer movies, and fewer screens than there were pre-COVID.</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5923629' />