Story
What happened to TheNumbers.com
1 report
1 website
1 discussion
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Overview
TheNumbers.com, a trusted source for film data tracking box office grosses, budgets, and streaming information for over 78,000 films, disappeared overnight. This incident highlights the fragility of websites that provide essential data in the film industry.
Summary from stephenfollows.com.
Reports
One report so far. Additional coverage will appear here when it is linked to this story.
stephenfollows.com
What happened to TheNumbers.com
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Community reactions
Each reaction summarizes sampled comments from the linked discussion.
Hacker News · stephenfollows.com
Historical count: 5 · 5 saved in sample · Historical sample
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Read this discussion’s reaction
Based on 5 sampled comments from this thread. Analyzed 2026-07-23.
- Praise: There's a clear opportunity for a static site overhaul that could make TheNumbers.com more resilient and cost-effective — a smart move for keeping the site alive.
- Praise: Using LLM assistance for a rewrite seems feasible and could streamline the process significantly, making it less daunting than it sounds.
- Concern: Relying on a 30-year-old site as a barometer for online security feels misguided — it’s not representative of modern challenges in the digital landscape.
- Concern: The idea that LLMs can 'fix' the issues caused by their own scraping is ironic and raises questions about the sustainability of such solutions.