What Happened to Rotten Tomatoes?

Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12, 1998, by three University of California, Berkeley undergraduate students: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang. Initially, it began as a spare-time project by Duong to aggregate reviews for Jackie Chan's Hong Kong action movies as they were released in the United States. The site quickly expanded its scope to cover all films, aiming to provide a comprehensive resource for diverse critical opinions.

Over its history, Rotten Tomatoes has experienced several ownership changes. It was acquired by IGN Entertainment in June 2004, which was then bought by News Corp's Fox Interactive Media in September 2005. In January 2010, IGN sold the website to Flixster, a movie discovery service. A significant turning point occurred in May 2011 when Warner Bros. acquired Flixster, thereby also gaining ownership of Rotten Tomatoes. This ownership by a major studio later sparked some controversy regarding potential conflicts of interest.

The most recent major ownership change happened in February 2016, when Rotten Tomatoes and Flixster were sold to Fandango Media, a ticketing company owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal. As part of this deal, Warner Bros. retained a 25% minority stake in the merged entities, including Fandango. This acquisition aimed to create a more integrated platform for movie discovery, ticketing, and reviews.

Rotten Tomatoes has faced various criticisms and controversies throughout its existence. It has been criticized for oversimplifying complex reviews into a binary 'fresh' or 'rotten' dichotomy, which some argue misrepresents critical nuance. The platform has also grappled with 'review bombing,' where organized groups intentionally flood a film's audience score with negative ratings, often for non-cinematic reasons, as seen with films like 'Captain Marvel' and 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'. In September 2023, an investigative report by Vulture alleged that PR firms, such as Bunker 15, had manipulated critic scores by paying obscure reviewers for positive write-ups, leading Rotten Tomatoes to delist several affected films.

In response to these challenges, Rotten Tomatoes has implemented changes to enhance the integrity of its scores. In May 2019, it introduced a verified audience rating system. Most recently, in August 2024, Rotten Tomatoes rebranded its audience score as the 'Popcornmeter' and launched a 'Verified Hot' badge. This new system requires users to verify ticket purchases through Fandango for their ratings to count towards the 'Verified Hot' designation, aiming to directly combat review bombing. As of April 2025, the site also removed the average score on a 0-10 scale that was previously calculated for films.

As of March 31, 2026, Rotten Tomatoes continues to operate as a prominent and influential review aggregator. It regularly publishes news, interviews, and guides related to movies and TV shows, including new releases and streaming content for March 2026. The company remains a key player in how audiences discover and evaluate entertainment, constantly evolving its features and policies in response to industry trends and user feedback.