--- description: Brett Ratner: "I’ve seen some great movies with really abysmal Rotten Tomatoes scores." title: Director: Rotten Tomatoes Is 'Destruction of Our Business' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf09c0630e43f7f39/6988bfbc0b72e3b5c16ed12e/gettyimages-655455702.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Rotten Tomatoes Is 'The Destruction of Our Business,' Says Director by [James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 24, 2017 3:23 AM CUT  Film director Brett Ratner during the 2017 Sun Valley Film Festival on March 18, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Film director Brett Ratner during the 2017 Sun Valley Film Festival on March 18, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.Mark Davis—Getty Images for Sun Valley Film by [James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 24, 2017 3:23 AM CUT Director and producing mogul Brett Ratner says film critic aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes is a destructive force in Hollywood. Speaking at the Sun Valley Film Festival last weekend, the _Rush Hour_ director wanted to make it clear he has plenty respect for traditional film critics. But he says reducing hundreds of reviews culled from print and online sources into a popularized aggregate score has become a toxic and often inaccurate label. “The worst thing that we have in today’s movie culture is Rotten Tomatoes,” said Ratner, whose company RatPac Entertainment co-financed _Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice_ (among dozens of other Warner Bros. titles). “I think it’s the destruction of our business. I have such respect and admiration for film criticism. When I was growing up film criticism was a real art. And there was intellect that went into that. And you would read Pauline’s Kael’s reviews, or some others, and that doesn’t exist anymore. Now it’s about a number. A compounded number of how many positives vs. negatives. Now it’s about, ‘What’s your Rotten Tomatoes score?’ And that’s sad, because the Rotten Tomatoes score was so low on _Batman v Superman_ I think it put a cloud over a movie that was incredibly successful.” Directed by Zack Snyder, _Batman v Superman_ cost about $250 million to make and grossed nearly $900 million worldwide—despite being considered a disappointment (with a [27% score](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/batman%5Fv%5Fsuperman%5Fdawn%5Fof%5Fjustice/ "undefined") on Rotten Tomatoes). “People don’t realize what goes into making a movie like that,” Ratner continued. “It’s mind-blowing. It’s just insane, it’s hurting the business, it’s getting people to not see a movie. In Middle America it’s, ‘Oh, it’s a low Rotten Tomatoes score so I’m not going to go see it because it must suck.’ But that number is an aggregate and one that nobody can figure out exactly what it means, and it’s not always correct. I’ve seen some great movies with really abysmal Rotten Tomatoes scores. What’s sad is film criticism has disappeared. It’s really sad.” Some other popular titles with low Rotten Tomatoes scores include _Home Alone_ (55%), _Hook_ (30%)_, Wet Hot American Summer_ (32%) and _The Mighty Ducks_ (15%). More recently on the TV side, Netflix’s _Iron Fist_ scored only 18% from critics but its audience score is 83%. We reached out to Rotten Tomatoes about Ratner’s thoughts, and Jeff Voris gave us a statement in reply — and it’s not as contrarian to the director’s stance as you might expect. “At Rotten Tomatoes, we completely agree that film criticism is valuable and important, and we’re making it easier than it has ever been for fans to access potentially hundreds of professional reviews for a given film or TV show in one place,” Voris wrote. “The Tomatometer score, which is the percentage of positive reviews published by professional critics, has become a useful decision-making tool for fans, but we believe it’s just a starting point for them to begin discussing, debating and sharing their own opinions.” The director also revealed that a _Rush Hour 4_ could be in the works. “I think it will happen; we’re talking to writers,” he said. “We could call it _Grumpy Old Rush Hour_.” The original film was released in 1998 and starred Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as a pair of mismatched law enforcement officers and unwitting partners. The blockbuster hit, which grossed $244 million worldwide at the time of its release, spawned two sequels with Chan and Tucker. As for Ratner’s other projects, his planned Johnny Depp sexual assault drama, _The Libertine_, [has been put “on hold” due to issues](http://ew.com/movies/2017/03/20/brett-ratner-johnny-depp-the-libertine/ "undefined") surrounding the actor’s divorce. The Sun Valley festival, which EW is a producing sponsor, is now in its sixth year. Ratner was on hand to accept the Idaho festival’s Pioneer Award, which given to individuals with a trailblazing career. In addition to directing movies like _X-Men: The Last Stand_ and _Red Dragon_, he’s also produced titles such as 2015’s _The Revenant_. The festival also honored Oscar winner Geena Davis with the Vision Award, as well as _Girls_ and _Get Out_ star Allison Williams. _This_ [_article_](http://ew.com/movies/2017/03/23/ratner-tomatoes-scores/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://ew.com/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4711973/rotten-tomatoes-hollywood-brett-ratner/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4711973/rotten-tomatoes-hollywood-brett-ratner/"},"headline":"Rotten Tomatoes Is 'The Destruction of Our Business,' Says Director","datePublished":"2017-03-24T03:23:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:01:03.146Z","description":"Brett Ratner: \"I’ve seen some great movies with really abysmal Rotten Tomatoes scores.\"","url":"https://time.com/4711973/rotten-tomatoes-hollywood-brett-ratner/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf09c0630e43f7f39/6988bfbc0b72e3b5c16ed12e/gettyimages-655455702.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf09c0630e43f7f39/6988bfbc0b72e3b5c16ed12e/gettyimages-655455702.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2017 Sun Valley Film Festival - Coffee Talk with Brett Ratner and Jonathan Glickman Ratner","caption":"2017 Sun Valley Film Festival - Coffee Talk with Brett Ratner and Jonathan Glickman Ratner","creditText":"Mark Davis—Getty Images for Sun Valley Film","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4711973/rotten-tomatoes-hollywood-brett-ratner/","name":"Rotten Tomatoes Is 'The Destruction of Our Business,' Says Director"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Netflix Is Ruining TV","description":"Netflix came onto the scene with its first major original programs—House of Cards and Orange is the New Black—only three years ago, in 2013. 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