More controversy surrounding the Captain Marvel movie has hit the net as it is learned its Rotten Tomatoes “Want to See” score is plummetting faster than its recent box office tracking.
Rotten Tomatoes not only keeps an aggregate score of reviews but also user ratings for its audience members that want to see films. Captain Marvel presently stands at having 84% of fans that want to see the film, with over 4,200 votes being cast.
Update: As of 2/19 at 1:52 pm EST, the percentage has dropped to 78% with over 5,200 votes counted.
Update #2: As of 2/19 at 5:37 pm EST, the percentage has dropped to 70% with over 6,100 votes counted.
Update #3: As Of 2/21 at 2:41 am EST, the percentage has dropped to 63% with over 8,200 votes counted.
We are still more than two weeks away from its release, so this could be looked at as rather alarming. Again, this is not the review rating, but a percentage of fans that want to see the film:
While some fans are already claiming fraud (of course), a quick check of the MCU “Audience Score,” which comes out after a movie, reveals Captain Marvel is in line with Marvel movies such as Thor: Ragnarok (87%), Spider-Man: Homecoming (88%), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (87%), Doctor Strange (86%), and Ant-Man (86%). Interestingly enough, the Captain Marvel box office tracking and Rotten Tomatoes “Want to See” score correlates with the latter MCU movies’ own “Audience Score” and box office opening weekends of around $85-$120 million.
Update: The low 70s score is more in line with MCU movies such as Thor: The Dark World (75%), Captain America: The First Avenger (74%), Thor (76%), Iron Man 2 (71%) and The Incredible Hulk (70%).
Update: The low 60s score is not the lowest for any MCU movie.
So assuming the Rotten Tomatoes “Want to See” score is somewhat reliable, some fans’ hopes that Captain Marvel may open closer to Black Panther numbers ($202 million) may be dashed. Similar to the box office tracking, the decline in people wanting to see the movie may have to do with perception surrounding the politics of Brie Larson, who is using her role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Captain Marvel to push an agenda instead of simply promoting the movie as a form of escapism that all fans want to see. Make no mistake, no matter what side you are on, Brie Larson is using her position as a pulpit, which is dividing the MCU fan base, and it is not a good thing.
Per the norm, let me know your thoughts in the comments below and on Twitter.
Captain Marvel opens March 8.
