You now have to prove you bought a ticket for your Rotten Tomatoes review to actually count
Rotten Tomatoes has a troll problem, one it’s still figuring out how to address. Now, in coordination with its parent company, Fandango, the ratings aggregator will only allow verified ticket buyers to contribute to a film’s overall Audience Score, Variety reports. Any user, verified or not, can still leave a review, but if they can’t prove they bought a ticket their flaccid missives against whatever female superhero they’re mad about that day will fail to impact the overall score.
This will ostensibly help curve the “review bombs” dropped on films like Captain Marvel and The Last Jedi, which saw their Audience Scores dropped by the coordinated campaigns of sad 4chan boys. There is, however, an arguably cynical undercurrent—for now, at least, the only way to verify your purchase is through Fandango. The company insists the move isn’t just a campaign to drive ticket buyers to their app, saying they’re “open to any partner that wants to come on board,” but it’s nevertheless a shrewd move. They do say, however, that deals are in place with AMC Theatres, Regal, and Cinemark Theatres to participate, but those purchases won’t be able to be verified until sometime later this year.
The change will impact this week’s new releases—Aladdin, Brightburn, and Booksmart—and will apply to all future new releases from here on out. Rotten Tomatoes, meanwhile, will also be integrated into Fandango’s site and mobile app. Old scores, meanwhile, won’t change.