Glass is currently out there in the universe, polarizing moviegoers. If you listen closely, you can hear fans and non-fans furiously typing reactions and posting recap videos across the web. M. Night Shyamalan certainly has people talking about the third film in his trilogy, which started with Unbreakable, then Split, and now Glass.
Considering the strong negative reactions out there, it surprised me to see Glass had a higher CinemaScore than Unbreakable. The real shock isn't that Glass got a score of a B. I'm just shocked that Unbreakable got a C. Split has the highest score of the series with a B+.
I'm not shocked by the B for Glass because it's probably the average of high and low scores. CinemaScore reveals its methodology on its website. On opening night, meaning last night for Glass, CinemaScore polls moviegoers by having them fill out ballot cards in the theater. Fans are asked to grade a movie A to F. CinemaScore then uses that to establish the movie's overall grade.
It's hard to imagine people shrugged at Glass, but I can see extreme reactions on both ends leveling out with a B.
But Unbreakable got a C back in 2000? Who are you, and who hurt you?
Not everyone is going to agree on everything, and even in the CinemaBlend family there are varying reactions to Glass. Some are pointing out all of the major flaws, while others are trying to focus on more of the positives.
When it comes to reviews, Glass is far and away the least liked by critics. Glass currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 35%, which is much lower than the fans' audience score of 78%. Despite its title, no one was that split on Split. Critics gave James McAvoy's showcase a 76% rating vs. audiences at 79%. Unbreakable has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 69%, with an audience score of 77%.
So Glass now has a better CinemaScore than Unbreakable, and it currently has a higher RT audience score.
The CinemaScore is fixed, but the audience scores will probably fluctuate over time. Right now, many fans are defending Glass from an onslaught of criticism. But after time passes, and even more fans watch the film away from this current context, they may bring the number down a bit. Or maybe they won't. Clearly I don't know.
At this moment, Glass has an IMDb user rating of 7.3. Interestingly enough, that is the exact same score that Unbreakable and Split currently have. But more than 300,000 users have weighed in on Unbreakable and Split, and Glass is just getting started with about 12,000.
The Glass box office results will be in on Sunday, so check back tomorrow for the official opening weekend tally. Glass' opening night tally marked M. Night Shyamalan's biggest ever preview night. That's certainly a promising start. Will bad reviews hurt it at the box office, compared to Split, or will the fan reviews and anticipation make it a big hit? We'll see. The film is now in theaters as one of the many many many movie offerings of 2019.
