Hollywood producer: Rotten Tomatoes causing 'destruction' of movie business

A Hollywood director has blasted movie review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes as "the destruction of our business".

Brett Ratner, who directed the Rush Hour films and co-financed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, said reducing hundreds of reviews to one aggregate score was an inaccurate representation that clouded successful films, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Speaking at the Sun Valley Film Festival, Ratner said Rotten Tomatoes was the "worst thing that we have in today's movie culture".

"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.

"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?'

Batman v Superman, directed by Zach Snyder, grossed nearly $900 million worldwide, but only has a 27 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Ratner called that "sad, because ... it put a cloud over a movie that was incredibly successful."

"People don't realize what goes into making a movie like that. It's mind-blowing," he said.

Rotten Tomatoes defended its role in the movie industry to Entertainment Weekly, with a spokesperson saying it had 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".

Ratner was rapidly criticised for his comments, with people saying he was deflecting the issue away from bad filmmaking.

Brett Ratner, director of both Rush Hour 3 and X-Men 3 thinks that Rotten Tomatoes is the problem with the movie industry. Let that sink in.

— Veraan (@VeraanTM) March 23, 2017

That Brett Ratner claims that Rotten Tomatoes is the worst thing to happen to movies? Does he remember that time he directed an X-men movie

— Alex (@OnceUponAQuest) March 23, 2017

the worst thing we have in today's movie culture is Brett Ratner making movies (and saying things like "rehearsal is for fags")

— comrade edmond (@edmondbeau) March 24, 2017

Or, and here's a unique idea, maybe actually make a good movie. It's a wild idea, but it's crazy enough to work. 🤔 @BrettRatner https://t.co/X0AyPYryXd

— The Writer (@antoinnelemar) March 24, 2017

I think Mr Ratner has probably added his fair share to the movie business going down the pan also. #BrettRatner https://t.co/UQBh3oYy9V

— 🎮🎬 Darth Sean 📺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@darthsean85) March 24, 2017