In the 1930s studio-owned theaters varied their ticket prices according to quality (movies were rated by a trade group as an A, B or C picture), as well as the date and time of the show.

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The studio knew that it was pointless and counter-productive to throw tens-of-millions of dollars in order to slightly improve what was always going to be a B-movie action picture based on a line of toys.

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Mr. Smith's picture received a B.

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More recent data is weighed more heavily. (This was a recent change.) If you had picture A, B, and C up for one year, and then took them down in favor of pictures X, Y, and Z, then within just a couple weeks your score would be determined mostly by X, Y, and Z.

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