This week, Rotten Tomatoes announced a significant addition to its film ranking system, introducing a new and elevated distinction to their Verified Audience Score: “Verified Hot.”
For a film to receive this designation, it will need to have a Verified Score of 90% or higher on its Popcornmeter.
“Certified Fresh” has become a sought-after marker for films, indicating a large percentage of critics deem the film worthy of watching. This update will now add a “Verified Hot” badge for its Popcornmeter to create distinction around audience scores and Rotten Tomatoes will only use audience reviews from people who have purchased tickets through Fandango.
Rotten Tomatoes is owned by Fandango, which is a joint venture of majority owner NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast, and minority owner Warner Bros., which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery
“This new designation will complement our Certified Fresh rating, helping fans not only find films that are widely praised by critics but also discover those beloved by audiences,” Rotten Tomatoes said in a press release.
The update is a win for the LGBTQ community and for all filmmakers who will have their art more equitably appraised and filmgoers to have a greater stake in a film’s success.
On Rotten Tomatoes and other public review sites, there have been historical attempts to “review bomb” films starring diverse talent, characters, and featuring inclusive stories – wherein members of the public who have not seen the film leave negative reviews en masse to sink a project’s success ahead of release. With this new system of verification, only audience members who’ve purchased tickets to see the films will be counted for the elevated “Verified Hot” status. That means even if someone wants to deflate the film’s score by leaving a negative review, they at least must purchase a ticket first, ultimately yielding a positive box office gain for the film.
The announcement is another step to elevate diverse voices and content, following a 2019 Rotten Tomatoes initiative to increase diversity and inclusion among its accredited membership, adding 600 critics, and assisting critics from underrepresented communities to attend film festivals and entertainment industry events.
Alex Schmider, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Entertainment & Transgender Inclusion added, “This move by Rotten Tomatoes will enable LGBTQ audiences to more directly support the careers of LGBTQ filmmakers, talent, and inclusive films by having their ticket dollars and votes weighed more significantly in what titles receive greater industry recognition. While critic reviews are important to the life of a film, so too is audience reception—especially from audiences underserved with authentic stories. This feature will provide informative data on the demand for diverse LGBTQ stories and lead to larger marketing and production budgets put behind those titles.”
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LGBTQ audiences do not always have first access to films which only screen at limited film festivals or in major urban cities and must rely on critic reviews that may not be reflective of community sentiment or reality [a notable example of this is the Netflix film Girl]. By encouraging audiences to show up to the movies and make their voices heard in a recognized metric with industry capital, there is opportunity to support LGBTQ filmmakers and films more directly and thus guide the industry toward creating and widely distributing fair, accurate, and inclusive stories that both change hearts and minds, and entertain audiences globally.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “the new Verified Hot badge appears to shift power from critics to average moviegoers, who can now in aggregate help a film generate a coveted badge, something that had been reserved for pro reviewers with the Certified Fresh designation.”