In each case, male users rate movies with female leads lower than female users. Even critically acclaimed “The Help,” which has the highest overall IMDb score of the group (8.1/10), was given an average rating of 7.9 by male users (161,746 votes) and 8.4 by female users (108,173 votes).

The preliminary rating for “Ghostbusters” is no exception. In fact, out of this group of films, “Ghostbusters” has by far the highest disparity between male and female rankings.

The movie’s measly 5.2 (out of 10) IMDb rating is yanked down due to more than 19,000 men who gave it an average of 4.5, while about 6,000 women rated the movie a respectable 8.1. The next-biggest leap between ratings was the “Sex and the City” movie, based on the famous 1990s-era HBO show. It received an overall rating of 5.5, where men gave it an average of 4.7 compared to 6.5 from women.

Perhaps this is just a case of women being more forgiving online and rating all movies generally more favorably than men. However, Hickey in his FiveThirtyEight analysis found that this wasn’t the case for the most popular TV shows. He writes, “Women gave their top 100 shows, on average, a 7.8 rating, about the same score they gave the top 100 male-dominated programs, 8.0. Men gave their top 100 an average score of 8.2 but gave the top 100 female-skewed shows a mere 6.9 average ratings.” Though all of these top shows are notable, men consistently rate female-oriented work lower.

Though tastes in films vary widely from person to person, ratings systems such as IMDb hold weight in many critics’ circles. Whether conscious of it or not, consumer ratings have the ability to influence the public’s perception of a film (at least to some extent).

Oscar-worthiness aside, “Ghostbusters” promised to be a film that, armed with its predominantly female cast, would be a significant step toward diversity within the film industry. According to the data, however, it seems as though its critical fate was already determined long before it hit the silver screen.