Rotten Tomatoes Unveils New “Rotten Tomatoes Verified Hot” Audience Badge

Rotten Tomatoes Introduces a Brand-New Elevated Designation Honoring the Best-Verified Reviewed Theatrical Films by Fans.

August 21, 2024

Rotten Tomatoes, the world’s most trusted destination for entertainment reviews and recommendations, introduced the “Rotten Tomatoes Verified Hot” Audience badge, a brand-new elevated designation honoring the best-verified reviewed theatrical films by fans. This new badge is a complement to the popular “Certified Fresh” Tomatometer badge, awarded to the highest-reviewed films by professional critics.

The Rotten Tomatoes Verified Hot badge is awarded to theatrical films that achieve a Verified Audience Score of 90% or higher on the Popcornmeter and meet other eligibility requirements.The first films to receive this prestigious badge include some of the summer's biggest hits, such as Universal Pictures’ Twisters.

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. With the addition of Rotten Tomatoes 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.

— Amanda Norvell, SVP, Direct-to-Consumer Services at Fandango

In addition to introducing Verified Hot, Rotten Tomatoes has enhanced the branding of its Popcornmeter audience scoring system for all movies and TV shows. Fans 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.

Rotten Tomatoes is also honoring the films that have resonated the most with audiences across the globe since the launch of Verified Audience Ratings and Reviews in May 2019. 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. Check out the full list of over 200 Verified Hot titles HERE.

With these updates, Rotten Tomatoes furthers its commitment to providing entertainment fans worldwide with the best information and recommendations for what to watch. By providing the broadest, most inclusive range of perspectives from both fans and professional critics alike, fans can discover entertainment and make viewing decisions that are best for them.