February movies are bad. Filmgoers know it. Movie executives know it. The industry reserves its most promising films for the holidays and summer, when consumers have the leisure to watch them, and the real stinkers for February. Just how bad are these February movies? We’re too afraid to watch them ourselves, so we looked at the Rotten Tomatoes scores of every movie making more than $1 million in the domestic box office since 2000, grouped the movies by month of release, and averaged the scores. Here’s what we found:

Weigh by earnings » Average Rotten Tomatoes rating of films by month Among films making above $1 million domestically, excluding re-releases. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. 2000 34 41 43 58 47 55 50 43 47 52 52 52 2001 62 31 57 36 63 54 57 50 39 48 48 61 2002 53 41 55 53 61 59 62 51 46 52 58 59 2003 51 49 53 53 69 41 54 48 46 59 60 58 2004 38 35 49 40 43 54 50 44 47 45 46 48 2005 51 50 48 53 55 59 60 49 52 51 55 55 2006 51 45 52 47 48 56 48 53 47 53 58 49 2007 43 49 49 41 54 65 55 38 49 54 52 58 2008 46 51 45 52 53 60 66 43 39 55 62 59 2009 52 42 51 59 57 52 53 57 46 53 54 66 2010 39 54 55 52 57 55 57 58 58 56 58 59 2011 48 41 61 58 49 58 64 55 47 63 60 66 2012 49 54 59 65 54 61 67 54 53 53 72 58 2013 42 41 41 50 56 63 55 48 56 56 64 53 Avg.* 48 45 51 51 55 57 58 49 48 54 57 57 Average Rotten Tomatoes rating by month, weighted « BackAmong films making above $1 million domestically, excluding re-releases. Each film is weighted according to its box office earnings relative to the earnings of all considered films released in the same month. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. 2000 20 40 49 54 62 53 49 45 59 59 54 50 2001 71 36 59 39 56 45 49 52 38 50 69 70 2002 61 35 60 53 72 56 54 62 45 59 64 73 2003 53 48 42 51 72 48 55 55 53 64 51 67 2004 43 47 49 51 62 70 57 46 45 48 59 51 2005 53 47 37 54 57 64 63 53 56 40 63 58 2006 51 39 54 39 51 55 50 55 49 52 69 55 2007 46 38 47 45 50 70 65 54 42 54 56 55 2008 46 41 42 53 68 68 71 46 38 51 58 55 2009 52 42 57 45 64 44 55 60 55 55 43 69 2010 37 46 58 41 54 61 62 53 59 60 69 57 2011 41 36 60 61 56 51 67 63 62 67 49 64 2012 47 45 64 56 75 66 70 56 55 56 75 66 2013 49 35 49 60 65 64 58 53 58 79 76 65 Avg.* 51 42 53 50 62 59 60 54 52 57 62 61 * Average score of films released in each month. | Source: Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo

February films scored an average of 45—3 points below the next-worst months, January and September, and eight points below the average score of all movies. What’s a 45? For those unfamiliar with the Rotten Tomatoes scale, a 45 is not that good: Recent films that earned a 45 include Daredevil, National Treasure, and the Planet of the Apes remake.

True, even loathsome February can, once every few years, yield a cinematic treasure. The Wedding Singer, The Silence of the Lambs, Coraline, and In Bruges were all February releases. (Some awards-bait movies, in limited release in December or earlier, see their widest release in February as studios try to capitalize on Oscar nominations.) Perhaps it’s unfair to judge the month by its number of bad films, throwing every film indiscriminately into the same basket. After all, it doesn’t matter if there are more bad movies if everyone sees the good ones. Unfortunately, they don’t. Weighing each movie by its box office revenue actually lowers February’s score 3 points while increasing the scores of most other movies. In February consumers simply get the smallest bang for their buck.