Rotten Tomatoes has officially dropped its traditional Audience Score in favor of a new “verified ratings Popcornmeter” system which will only measure ratings from fans who have actually purchased tickets through Fandango (owner of Rotten Tomatoes).
The announcement marks the first major change to Rotten Tomatoes since back in 2019 following the Captain Marvel controversy when Rotten Tomatoes dropped the audience “Want To See Feature.”
“Audience Score” dropped for “Popcornmeter”
Now when users go to Rotten Tomatoes, they will see the “Popcornmeter” instead of the “Audience Score.”
That’s not all, as Rotten Tomatoes has also revamped how it makes scores available, which depends on the movie’s box office estimate (see below). No longer will scores be made available right away with a limited number of reviews or ratings available.
Here are two screenshots from the Rotten Tomatoes listing of Deadpool & Wolverine of a before and after (at different dates) featuring the new verified Popcornmeter system:
The Audience Score has also been dropped from TV shows:
We also see that user ratings have a “Verified” checkmark on movie listings while those that haven’t been verified do not (obviously TV shows wouldn’t be verified):
How does Rotten Tomatoes confirm fans bought tickets?
It’s my understanding that when a user submits a rating or review on Rotten Tomatoes, the platform checks whether that user has a corresponding ticket purchase through Fandango.
How the process works I’m not exactly sure but I reached out to Rotten Tomatoes for further info. It sounds to me as if Rotten Tomatoes obviously has access to the Fandango user database. However, I don’t see anywhere in either site to link accounts. Are accounts on Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango automatically linked? Can users turn off the ability to link accounts?
And yes, from my understanding, so that means if you use two different e-mail accounts for Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, you won’t be verified on Rotten Tomatoes. Again, I see no way to link accounts, so it appears that presently you would have to use the same e-mail for both sites.
That also means if you buy multiple tickets for yourself, friends and/family, only the person who bought the tickets will be “verified” on Rotten Tomatoes. This obviously limits the verified audience ratings severely.
Rotten Tomatoes also says it is working on partnering with other movie ticket sites for verification, but as of now it’s only for users who use their Fandango app (another big limiting factor).
Why was the Audience Score dropped?
Regarding why the Audience Score was dropped, it’s an obvious move from Rotten Tomatoes and the studios to combat the notion of “review bombing.”
Review bombing is the thought that when fans don’t like a movie (for whatever reason), they write a review and give a rating without having gone seen the movie. The shill media sites often use “review bombing” as an excuse whenever a movie gets a negative Audience Score or is a big fail. However, most of the time, it seems the box office matches the Audience Score.
So unlike the old Audience Score, which could be influenced by “anyone,” the Verified Hot badge only considers ratings from users who have proven they actually went to see the movie through Rotten Tomatoes verifying the purchase on Fandango.
Introducing the “Verified Hot” Badge
With the new “verified ratings Popcornmeter” system, Rotten Tomatoes has also launched the “Verified Hot” badge, a new designation reserved for theatrical movies that achieve a Verified Audience Score of 90% or higher (pictured above).
Rotten Tomatoes says this change is a direct response to issues like review bombing, where individuals flood a movie’s rating with negative scores, often without having seen the film. By focusing on verified ticket purchases, Rotten Tomatoes aims to ensure that only genuine moviegoers contribute to this critical metric.
Retroactive Application and Expansion
The new Verified Hot badge isn’t just for new releases. Rotten Tomatoes has retroactively applied this designation to over 200 films dating back to 2019, including blockbuster hits like Top Gun: Maverick, The Color Purple, Parasite, Oppenheimer, and Spider-Man: No Way Home (full list here on RT).
Beyond the Verified Hot badge, Rotten Tomatoes has also revamped its Popcornmeter designations. Movies that score above 60% with at least 3.5 stars from verified users will now be labeled “Hot,” while those falling below that threshold will be marked as “Stale.”
So, from my understanding, it’s 90% for the special Verified Hot Badge.
Then it’s 60% for the more general “Hot” label or below 60% for the “Stale” labeling.
Changes to the Tomatometer and Popcornmeter scores display
In addition to the Verified Hot badge, Rotten Tomatoes has implemented new rules for when scores appear on the Tomatometer (Critics score) and Popcornmeter (formerly known as the Audience Score).
The number of reviews required for a score to be displayed now varies based on a film’s projected domestic box office performance. Larger budget and generally more widely released films will need more reviews to get a score to first display, while smaller, limited budget and release movies will require fewer.
Rotten Tomatoes released the following charts for both the Tomatometer and the new Popcormeter:
A Commitment to Trustworthy Recommendations
Rotten Tomatoes’ says the shift to the Verified Ratings system and the introduction of the Verified Hot badge underscore the platform’s commitment to providing trustworthy entertainment recommendations.
“On Rotten Tomatoes, fans love to consult our verified audience score, in addition to the Tomatometer critics’ score, when discovering new movies and deciding what they want to watch next,” said Amanda Norvell, SVP, Direct-to-Consumer Services at Fandango. “With the addition of Verified Hot, we are excited to celebrate and shine a spotlight on the theatrical films that fans have unanimously embraced and have taken the time to share their incredible moviegoing experience with other fans.”
