← Apex Mountain

Hairspray

1988 · directed by John Waters · 92 min · PG
24,483 feet · Prominence
666th of 24,106 films scored
Not coveredNo Rewatchables episode on file.

How this film scores

Draw42

Lifetime worldwide gross $7m, re-releases included; about $19m in 2026 money.

Rank6,106 of 11,051In 198895 of 173

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise88

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics88 baseAwards0 signal → +0 lift

No award rows on file, usually missing data rather than missing honours. Wikidata is thin for older and non-English films.

How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since. This film is near critically unanimous and barely registers on awards, so there is little headroom for awards to claim. The score is the critics' verdict, nearly untouched.

Legacy60

Judged directly: Spawned Broadway smash and hit remake.

Verdict60 of 100IMDb7 from 25kWikipedia21k views a monthAge38 years

On the listsNational Film RegistryCriterion Collectionevidence, not an input to the score
Scored beside it · 578 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 42 praise 88 legacy 60averages 63, placing it at24,483 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ Vitamin C

In these careers — elevation for this film

Divine19,317 ftRicki Lake18,714 ftDebbie Harry18,170 ftVitamin C17,836 ftMink Stole17,631 ftJosh Charles17,629 ftMary Vivian Pearce17,625 ft