For most of Angel’s films, the Angel Guild score is highly correlated with the Rotten Tomatoes audience score. However, Animal Farm received an Angel Guild score of 74 but got a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 57%. picture What happened? The King of Kings was animated, had an all-star cast, and helped grow the Angel Guild surpassing $80 million in the box office. Animal Farm was also animated, with an all-star cast, but hasn’t experienced the same success. With Animal Farm, we learned: Perception can quickly become reality for the crowd (we received a lot of comments from people who had only heard about the film or seen an early trailer, but had not watched the movie). The fanbase for any original book can challenge the film, and in most cases, before ever seeing the movie. What we plan to do differently: Ask an additional Guild question for films based on books: “Have you read the book?” “How well does it represent the book?” This will help us compare the Guild score for the book’s core audience with those of other Guild members. Improve the selection process for theatrical films, especially for those films that earn a Guild score in the 70s. We learn as we go. For example, after the release of Sketch, we listened to concerns from Guild members who took their young children to see the PG-rated film. In response, we launched the Guild Age Rating. And with the launch of Animal Farm, we highlighted the Guild Age Rating of 11+ in all our marketing materials. We also included an audio voiceover with animation to ensure parents knew which of their children would be ready for the important conversation that should happen after watching the film. Our goal is to get better at listening with every theatrical release. We’re always optimistic, but not infallible. What’s next? At Amplify 2026, we announced several new technologies to empower families, including Guild age rating, score, and film values. We also announced the biggest slate we’ve ever released on the Angel app and in theaters.
