IMDb Forced to Use 'Alternate' Rating System After 'The Little Mermaid' Gets Review-Bombed
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is switching how its website rates new movies after The Little Mermaid seemingly received unfair reviews.
Following its debut last month, the highly anticipated live-action remake, starring singer-songwriter and actress Halle Baily, received an estimated 43,000 user ratings, According to the site, 17,000 of those users gave the film a one-star rating out of 10, making for 39.4% of its review. The movie's “unweighted mean” is currently at 4.7, although IMDb currently officially lists the movie at 7.0 out of a possible ten stars.
Fans of the original film have and still appear to be upset over Bailey’s casting as the fictional mermaid character, Ariel. Following the announcement in 2019, the Grown-ish received an influx of backlash online.
She remained silent on the matter before addressing her critics in a 2022 interview with Variety, where she revealed how she got over her critics with the help of her grandparents. "It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, 'You don't understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you,'" Bailey said at the time.
The Little Mermaid opened as the top film at the domestic box office over Memorial Day weekend, bringing in $117 million. The movie also stars Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy, Daveed Diggs Javier Bardem, Awkwafina, and more.
