While it's certainly true that a lot of people pay little to no attention to Rotten Tomatoes, the review aggregator remains “the world’s most trusted destination for entertainment reviews and recommendations,” and the site has now implemented some key updates to its system which will also change the way movie's RT scores are reported on.
First and foremost, RT has launched a new "Verified Hot" designation, which will serve as the audience equivalent of the Certified Fresh Tomatometer badge.
"For more than 25 years, critics have been at the very core of Rotten Tomatoes – and that’s not changing. But, starting today, movies that score higher than 90% with verified* audiences will be granted the elevated status of “Verified Hot.” (*What counts as a “verified” review? An audience rating or review is considered “verified” when Rotten Tomatoes can confirm that the person rating the film has purchased a ticket to that film on Fandango.)
Verified Hot is to the Popcornmeter and audience reviews what Certified Fresh is to the Tomatometer and critic reviews – an elevated status that celebrates the most beloved titles on Rotten Tomatoes."
Recent Verified Hot movies now include Deadpool & Wolverine, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Fly Me to the Moon, Inside Out 2, Twisters and It Ends with Us. From Wednesday on, if you visit the site you will see a full red popcorn bucket with a ‘Hot’ label if 60% or more of the audience rates the title with 3.5 stars or higher, while a green tipped-over popcorn bucket will now be labeled ‘Stale,’ when less than 60% of the audience provides a rating of 3.5 stars or higher.
In addition, the thresholds that dictate when Tomatometer and Popcornmeter scores show up have been altered to "provide a more accurate reflection of critical and audience sentiment."
A lot of sites tend to report on initial RT scores after only a handful of verdicts have been added, but the thresholds for when Tomatometer and Popcornmeter scores populate will now be based on domestic box office projections.
"As more critics and audiences contribute their reviews to Rotten Tomatoes, it’s clear that scores need more time to marinate before they populate. That’s why we’re introducing review thresholds: Both the Tomatometer and the Popcornmeter will need to meet a new minimum number of reviews added to RT before movies’ scores will populate. The threshold for each new release will be determined by its total domestic box office forecast provided by an independent outside source.
Rotten Tomatoes scores are and always have been living documents – they fluctuate as critics and audiences continue adding their reviews. Our new thresholds will allow time for critic reviews and verified audience reviews for new releases to be added to Rotten Tomatoes before scores appear on the site."