Worst month for movies

The month with the lowest average metacritic score for newly released movies is January. An analysis carried out in December 2023, has revealed that January releases have an average score of just 53.9 percent.

In the film world, January and (to a lesser extent) February are regarded as "dump months", and are traditionally the time in the year when studios offload projects that they're contractually obliged to send to theaters, but don't expect to succeed. Consumers have less disposable income in January, and bad or unpredictable weather gives them additional motivation to stay at home. Furthermore, films released in January are not going to be in contention for the upcoming awards season – and will likely be forgotten by the next – so studios will hold back anything that looks like it could impress critics.

Another factor is that January is typically the month that serious awards-season contenders – which received a limited release in December to meet the qualification deadline – get their general release. This eats into the limited market for new releases.

It should be noted that a release in the dump months doesn't mean a film is necessarily bad – it's more accurately an indicator that studio executives are either skeptical or unsure about its prospects. This is often because the film tested poorly, or that its production was troubled, but it can also be because it's perceived to be a tricky product to pitch to audiences. Examples of dump-month blockbusters include Deadpool (which was released in February 2016 due to concerns about an R-rated superhero movie clashing with the summer's Marvel blockbusters) and self-aware slasher-revival Scream (which hit theaters on 14 January 2022).