The Movie Database Support

for example, i want to get all movie which primary_release_date between "2025-03-27" and "2026-04-27", if i use /discover interface, i got total_result is 6457; but if i use 7 as the query granularity(just like "2025-03-27 ~ 2025-04-03", "2025-04-04 ~ 2025-04-11"....), calculating their sum, i got total_result is 6481, i want to know why?

3 replies (on page 1 of 1)

Jump to last post

@fanxinzzz said:
Why is the size of total_results different when I use the primary_release_date condition in the discover interface to query directly using one year as the start and end dates and when I split the year into multiple date segments and calculate the total?
for example,
i want to get all movie which primary_release_date between "2025-03-27" and "2026-04-27",
if i use /discover interface, i got total_result is 6457;
but if i use 7 as the query granularity (just like "2025-03-27 ~ 2025-04-03", "2025-04-04 ~ 2025-04-11"....), calculating their sum, i got total_result is 6481,
i want to know why?

If I understand correctly, you divided it into 7 API Requests.
I suspect that one or more of them is causing this problem.
Please post the 7 Requests here with the number of items in each of them.

Problems with API Request

In order for someone to help you with API Request questions,
it is critical that you post here the API Request you are sending to the TMDb server.
Remember to replace your Key with MY_KEY , YOUR_KEY , THE_KEY , or something like that.

Not the programming code/script you used to build the API Request.
But the API Request that is sent to the TMDb server.
Or the API Request you would like to send.

@ticao2 said:

@fanxinzzz said:
Why is the size of total_results different when I use the primary_release_date condition in the discover interface to query directly using one year as the start and end dates and when I split the year into multiple date segments and calculate the total?
for example,
i want to get all movie which primary_release_date between "2025-03-27" and "2026-04-27",
if i use /discover interface, i got total_result is 6457;
but if i use 7 as the query granularity (just like "2025-03-27 ~ 2025-04-03", "2025-04-04 ~ 2025-04-11"....), calculating their sum, i got total_result is 6481,
i want to know why?

If I understand correctly, you divided it into 7 API Requests.
I suspect that one or more of them is causing this problem.
Please post the 7 Requests here with the number of items in each of them.

Problems with API Request

In order for someone to help you with API Request questions,
it is critical that you post here the API Request you are sending to the TMDb server.
Remember to replace your Key with MY_KEY , YOUR_KEY , THE_KEY , or something like that.

Not the programming code/script you used to build the API Request.
But the API Request that is sent to the TMDb server.
Or the API Request you would like to send.

thanks for your answer, and this is my API request:

use /discover query movie between 2025-04-28 and 2025-05-28

https://api.tmdb.org/3/discover/movie?include_adult=false&primary_release_date.gte=2025-04-28&primary_release_date.lte=2025-05-28&language=en-US&sort_by=popularity.desc

result is {"total_pages":64,"total_results":1275};

use /discover query movie between 2025-04-28 and 2025-05-08

https://api.tmdb.org/3/discover/movie?include_adult=false&primary_release_date.gte=2025-04-28&primary_release_date.lte=2025-05-08&language=en-US&sort_by=popularity.desc

result is {"total_pages":34,"total_results":679}

use /discover query movie between 2025-05-09 ~ 2025-05-19

https://api.tmdb.org/3/discover/movie?include_adult=false&primary_release_date.gte=2025-05-09&primary_release_date.lte=2025-05-19&language=en-US&sort_by=popularity.desc

result is {"total_pages":22,"total_results":425}

use /discover query movie between 2025-05-20 and 2025-05-28

https://api.tmdb.org/3/discover/movie?include_adult=false&primary_release_date.gte=2025-05-20&primary_release_date.lte=2025-05-28&language=en-US&sort_by=popularity.desc

result is {"total_pages":9,"total_results":180}

You can find that the result obtained by making requests in segments and accumulating total_results is different from the total_results obtained by directly using2025-04-28 ~ 2025-05-28 for api requests, which confuses me. Thank you for your answer, I hope you can answer my question.

@fanxinzzz said:

You can find that the result obtained by making requests in segments and accumulating total_results is different from the total_results obtained by directly using2025-04-28 ~ 2025-05-28 for api requests, which confuses me.
Thank you for your answer, I hope you can answer my question.

Sometimes the result may be left in the TMDb Cache.
That's why this error may occur.
It usually takes a while for the Cache to be cleared.
An error may also occur due to the UTC date change.
Avoid doing this at the turn of the hour. 23:59:47 and 00:01:14
I just tested it.
It seems to have worked correctly.

2025-04-28 and 2025-05-28
total_pages 77
total_results 1521

2025-04-28 and 2025-05-08
total_pages 43
total_results 841

2025-05-09 ~ 2025-05-19
total_pages 24
total_results 478

2025-05-20 and 2025-05-28
total_pages 11
total_results 202

841 + 478 + 202 = 1521

Can't find a movie or TV show? Login to create it.

Global

s focus the search bar
p open profile menu
esc close an open window
? open keyboard shortcut window

On media pages

b go back (or to parent when applicable)
e go to edit page

On TV season pages

(right arrow) go to next season
(left arrow) go to previous season

On TV episode pages

(right arrow) go to next episode
(left arrow) go to previous episode

On all image pages

a open add image window

On all edit pages

t open translation selector
ctrl+ s submit form

On discussion pages

n create new discussion
w toggle watching status
p toggle public/private
c toggle close/open
a open activity
r reply to discussion
l go to last reply
ctrl+ enter submit your message
(right arrow) next page
(left arrow) previous page

Settings

Want to rate or add this item to a list?

Login