Rotten Tomatoes is about to make it easier for audiences to recognize the best movies in the business thanks to a new “Verified Hot” badge system. The badge signifies a quality above the average popcorn muncher, honoring the best-verified reviewed theatrical films by fans. The “Verified Hot” initiative compliments the site’s “Certified Fresh” Tomatometer badge, awarded to the highest-reviewed films by professional critics. In contrast, “Verified Hot” represents theatrical films that achieve a Verified Audience Score of 90% or higher on the Popcornmeter and meet other eligibility requirements.

Rotten Tomatoes plans to brand select summer films with the “Verified Hot” badge, including Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2, Twisters, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Fly Me to the Moon, It Ends with Us, and more.

“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,” said Amanda Norvell, SVP of Direct-to-Consumer Services at Fandango. “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.”

In addition to spotlighting the summer’s hottest films, Rotten Tomatoes is retroactively awarding films that remain with audiences long after the end credits roll, dating back to when the site launched its Verified Audience Ratings and Reviews in May 2019. Fan favorite films included in the list are Top Gun: Maverick, The Color Purple, Parasite, Oppenheimer, Belle, Nobody, The Holdovers, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and more. You can find the complete list of films here.

Is Rotten Tomatoes’ “Verified Hot” audience badge a good idea, or does the label create another category of film that could overshadow others? Is it worth seeing if a movie doesn’t receive the “Verified Hot” badge? Are movies that don’t make the cut about to sell fewer tickets? Some people will say those movies were doomed to mediocrity anyway, but I wonder if this system could bite the box office in the ass. What do you think? Am I completely missing the mark? How much stock do you put in Rotten Tomatoes? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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