Rotten Tomatoes Changes Rating System
Anyone who has visited Rotten Tomatoes in search of film reviews has likely noticed that there can sometimes be a significant difference in the scores between those given by verified critics and those generated by general audiences. At first glance, this might make a person believe that film critics as a whole are out of sync with the typical film watcher, creating a gap between the two clusters of reviews for your favorite movie. But after it was revealed that some audience members rate movies that they haven’t even watched, the site is teaming with a ticket seller to ensure that these audience ratings are from people who have really viewed what they are rating.
Verified Hot
Rotten Tomatoes and ticket agency Fandango (who is the review aggregate’s parent company) are debuting a new method of rating that they’re calling “Verified Hot.”
Meant to give new and audience worthy films a shot in the arm through the power of word-of-mouth advertising, Verified Hot status will be given to any theatrical film that has an audience score that hits the minimum 90 percent threshold. The movie ratings that count toward this new status have to be made from audience members that can prove that they bought a ticket.
More Ticket Sellers
Having this link through Fandango makes the process of a bona fide viewer easy for Rotten Tomatoes. Anyone who has bought their movie ticket through Fandango will have their review counted. But just because Fandango has a direct link to Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t mean that movie-goers who use other ticket purchasing apps will be left out of the loop.
Rotten Tomatoes is in the process of entering verification agreements with other ticket sellers so that those who want to have their ratings count toward a film’s Verified Hot status can still do so by purchasing tickets through their favorite app.
The Verified Hot Films
Rotten Tomatoes has given a list of films from the summer of 2024 that are currently at Verified Hot and are working backward to give older films who qualify the honor.
This year’s Verified Hot films include Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Fly Me to the Moon, It Ends With Us, Twisters, and Deadpool & Wolverine. The retroactive feature has bestowed the new status to Top Gun: Maverick, The Color Purple, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Parasite, Oppenheimer, and many more.
The Popcornmeter
In addition to the new Verified Hot status, Rotten Tomatoes has worked to modify its other review designations. Known as Popcornmeter, movies are given various labels based on the minimum thresholds for each category.
Going forward, any film that has garnered an audience score of at least 60 percent of its audience reviewers giving it at least 3.5 stars is labeled as “Hot,” while any movie that is below this mark will be labeled as “Stale.”
Certified Fresh
The films that have generated reviews from enough critics have been eligible for the Rotten Tomatoes “Certified Fresh” badge of honor. Since 2020, the site has given users the option to filter out uncertified/unverified critics, which can sometimes number in to the hundreds on certain films.
Like with any of its other certifications or badges, a minimum number of reviews is necessary to earn this label.
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