I'm also covering this on today's Charting, but I think this is really interesting (THREAD). Here's the head of marketing for Gotti defending the movie by citing its high user rating on Rotten Tomatoes. He's right - the rating is very high. But it's a very suspicious number. 
Look how many users left a rating for Gotti. Now look at how many left one for Incredibles 2. These numbers shouldn't be on par with each other. Incredibles 2 did over 100 times the business Gotti did - and opened in 3500 more theaters.
Gotti has MORE user ratings than Ocean's 8. Again, a movie that has done MUCH more business, opened in more theaters, and has been out a week longer.
For comparison, the film Beirut opened in a similar number of theaters, to a similar amount at the box office. Total user ratings: 708 over two months. Just over 10% what Gotti has received in four days.
My point: more and more, marketers are using the "audience/critic" divide to explain away bad reviews and drive business. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that this tactic is now being used for a film that has an abnormally high number of user reviews for a film of its size.
Maybe Gotti has a really outsized, passionate fanbase that loved the film an abnormal amount. But it's also possible these numbers are being goosed. Just a reminder that ratings aren't everything, and should always be taken with a grain of salt. Or a shaker of salt, in this case
