How is rotten tomatoes score calculated

So while the the Rotten Tomatoes rating system is really just general consensus, you can see some of the more renowned critics in a different space.

You also get a fully rounded out review because you can also see how the audience feels. The score is the percentage of users who have rated the movie or show positively. There is also a section for Verified Ratings which includes those that have actually bought tickets.

The most interesting finds are the ones that have a green splat for critics, and a full bucket of popcorn from the audience. And while reviews are opinion to some extent, the site boasts something called Certified Fresh, which brings a little more objectivity to the critique.

If it meets these requirements, it is automatically flagged for review. When the Rotten Tomatoes staff can determine the movie or show is unlikely to fall below these numbers, it achieves its Certified Fresh status. Because the Rotten Tomatoes ratings system is so general, RT certified fresh consideration gives the site more objective credibility.

So, what's the bottom line? With the movie theater business under constant assault from the rise of streaming services, audiences are less and less likely to venture out to the movies.

If they do happen to make it outside the house, they'll likely be extra picky about how they spend their money. Will they choose an "untested" wildcard movie or one that has general approval from fans and critics? The answer is self-evident. On its surface, the Rotten Tomatoes rating system and Tomatometer seem to be a legitimate resource for the discerning consumer.

Although this, of course, leads to more confusion and skepticism towards the validity of such ratings. And if you already think you know the answer, the truth may be a bit more complicated than you would expect. Discover the ins and outs of Rotten Tomatoes, CinemaScore, Metacritic, and IMDB ratings below, and resolve any misconceptions you may have from the major review aggregators. So what does that number mean? This differentiation is important. This number is not a rating, but an average measure of enjoyment; it is the percentage of positive reviews from approved critics.

Unless these critics self-submit their reviews, it is up to specially hired curators to collect and tally the number of Fresh or Rotten reviews in order to generate Tomatometer scores.

Rotten Tomatoes deems that all critics meet a set of eligibility guidelines that are meant to exemplify that this person or publication is influential and experienced enough to write well-articulated reviews. They do this through an application-based system with some of the requirements being: you must have been writing reviews for at least two years that are being published through a non-self-published source, whether that be online or print.

To put it simply, most Rotten Tomatoes reviewers are qualified to review films and have already been doing so, consistently, on a different platform. Once a critic has been approved to write for Rotten Tomatoes, they either self-submit reviews to the website or continue to publish reviews via the medium they were previously published through.

This team of curators poses a morally gray area as they introduce a middleman who opens the reviews to the possibility of misinterpretation. Mostly, however, Rotten Tomatoes critics submit scores themselves in order to rule out any areas of miscommunication. Similarly to critical scores, the percentage at the top of the page next to the popcorn bucket represents the overall number of audience members who gave a film a positive review.

All audience reviews must score the film in question out of 5 stars. This shifts the rating system to a 3. Just a side note for anyone who feels confused! Luckily, the rest of the audience rating system is easier to digest. The main takeaway I hope you have from this article is that Rotten Tomatoes, at its core, is a review aggregator, which means that ultimately those percentages you see at the top of the screen are general estimates meant to give you an overall idea of what critics think about this film.

The implication was that Fox believed the movie would be a critical success, and indeed, it was — the movie has a 97 percent Tomatometer score and an 86 percent audience score.

In , Metacritic conducted a study of the correlation between its scores and second weekend sales , and found — not surprisingly — that well-reviewed movies dip much less in the second weekend than poorly reviewed movies.

This is particularly true of movies with a strong built-in fan base, like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , which enjoyed inflated box office returns in the first weekend because fans came out to see it, but dropped sharply in its second weekend, at least partly due to extremely negative press.

Most critics who are serious about their work make a good-faith effort to approach each film they see with as few expectations as possible. But it's hard to have much hope about a movie when it seems obvious that a studio is trying to play keep-away with it. And the more studios try to game the system by withholding their films from critics, the less critics are inclined to enter a screening devoid of expectations, however subconscious.

If you ask critics what studios ought to do to minimize the potential impact of a low Rotten Tomatoes score, their answer is simple: Make better movies. Hiding a film from critics might artificially inflate first-weekend box office returns, but plenty of people are going to go see a franchise film, or a superhero movie, or a family movie, no matter what critics say.

The website is just one piece of the sprawling and often bewildering film landscape. As box office analyst Scott Mendelson wrote at Forbes :. But it is not magic. At worst, the increased visibility of the site is being used as an excuse by ever-pickier moviegoers to stay in with Netflix or VOD. For audience members who want to make good moviegoing decisions, the best approach is a two-pronged one.

First, check Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to get a sense of critical consensus. But second, find a few critics — two or three will do — whose taste aligns with or challenges your own, and whose insights help you enjoy a movie even more. Read them and rely on them. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all.

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By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Rotten Tomatoes, explained. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. How is a Rotten Tomatoes score calculated? What does a Rotten Tomatoes score really mean? If critics are ambivalent about Rotten Tomatoes scores, why do moviegoers use the scores to decide whether to see a movie?

The short version: It can, but not necessarily in the ways you might think. Next Up In Culture.