Attacked by Rotten Tomatoes
“There is no question that there is some correlation to box office performance — critics matter —
but I don’t think Rotten Tomatoes can definitively make or break a movie in either direction,” he said.
After the movie is released, a different Rotten Tomatoes rating — one based on audience response,
which is invariably positive — begins to pop up on Fandango next to the Tomatometer score.
The site’s staff occupies a relatively ordinary Beverly Hills office complex — albeit one with conference rooms named “La La Land”
and “Oz” — and includes people like Jeff Voris, an easygoing former Disney executive with graying hair who oversees operations, and Timothy Ryan, a former newspaper reporter who is a Rotten Tomatoes senior editor and lists “Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide” as favorite reading.
Mr. Voris brushed aside the studios’ protests — shared by many critics —
that the Tomatometer ratings damage films because they reduce nuanced reviews to blunt scores.
Last year, scores started appearing on Fandango, the online movie ticket-selling site, leading to grousing
that a rotten score next to the purchase button was the same as posting this message: You are an idiot if you pay to see this movie.
“Because we are serious movie fans ourselves, our priority — our entire focus — is being as useful to fans as we absolutely can be.”
In an absurdist plot twist, Rotten Tomatoes is owned by film companies.
