On the Friday a film opens, CinemaScore staff in five randomly chosen cities hand moviegoers a small card. Each viewer gives the film a letter grade. The average, from A+ to F, goes to the studios that night. As of February 2026, 23 films had received an F.
Ed Mintz started the service after he saw The Cheap Detective in June 1978. He had read a positive review of the film. He disliked it. He then heard another moviegoer say he wanted “the opinions of ordinary people, not critics.” Polling began in 1979.
In 2013 the reviews for Man of Steel were “crummy, rating just 56 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.” Its opening-night audiences gave it an A-.