**IMDb Search Prompt**

What does IMDb Search Prompt do?

IMDb Search Prompt lets you scrape IMDb movies, TV shows, and other titles from a plain-English prompt — no URL building required. Describe what you're looking for (for example, "highest-rated sci-fi movies from the 1980s"), and the Actor uses AI to turn your prompt into multiple targeted IMDb search URLs, scrapes the matching titles, and stores them as a structured dataset.

Under the hood, it chains two Actors together:

1. AI Scraper Input Generator converts your prompt into IMDb search URLs.
2. IMDb Scraper crawls those URLs and extracts the title details — ratings, year, genre, director, stars, and more.

Because it runs on the Apify platform, you get API access, scheduling, monitoring, and integrations (Make, Zapier, webhooks, Google Drive, and more) out of the box.

Why use IMDb Search Prompt?

• No manual URL construction — describe your intent in natural language, and the AI handles IMDb's search URL format, filters, and query variations.
• Better coverage — one prompt becomes several targeted search URL variations, surfacing titles a single query would miss.
• Watchlist and catalog research made simple — schedule a run of "new crime series with rating above 8" and feed the results into your own database.
• Film and market research — build datasets of titles by genre, era, country, or rating for analysis and recommendation systems.
• Automation-ready — predictable JSON output that plugs straight into data pipelines and integrations.

How to use IMDb Search Prompt

1. Open the Actor in Apify Console.
2. In the Input tab, enter your search prompt in plain English.
3. Optionally adjust Max items to limit how many titles are scraped.
4. Set the Actor's memory to 128 MB or less in the run options (the Actor enforces this limit, since the heavy lifting happens in the chained Actors).
5. Click Start and wait for the run to finish.
6. Open the Output tab or the dataset API URL to view and export your results.

Input

Set the input in the Actor's Input tab. Only the prompt is required.

{
    "prompt": "highest-rated sci-fi movies from the 1980s",
    "maxItems": 50
}

Field	Type	Required	Description
prompt	string	Yes	Plain-English description of the titles to find on IMDb. Genre, era, rating, and country all improve results.
maxItems	integer	No	Maximum number of title pages to scrape (default 10, maximum 500).

Output

Each scraped IMDb title is stored as one item in the default dataset. You can download the dataset in various formats such as JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel.

Example dataset item:

{
    "title": "Blade Runner (1982)",
    "original title": "",
    "runtime": "1h 57m",
    "certificate": "R",
    "year": "1982",
    "rating": "8.1",
    "ratingcount": "870,000",
    "description": "A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.",
    "stars": "Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young",
    "director": "Ridley Scott",
    "genre": "Sci-Fi",
    "country": "United States",
    "url": "https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658"
}

Data table

Field	Type	Description
title	string	Title with release year
original title	string	Original (non-localized) title, when different
runtime	string	Length of the movie or episode
certificate	string	Age/content rating (e.g. R, PG-13)
year	string	Release year
rating	string	IMDb user rating
ratingcount	string	Number of user ratings
description	string	Plot summary
stars	string	Main cast
director	string	Director(s)
genre	string	Genre(s)
country	string	Country of origin
url	string	Direct link to the IMDb title page

Exact fields may vary slightly by title, since not all IMDb listings expose the same attributes.

How much does it cost to scrape IMDb with a prompt?

A run consists of three parts: this orchestrator Actor (very light — it runs at 128 MB and mostly waits), one short AI Scraper Input Generator run, and the IMDb Scraper run. Note that the IMDb Scraper is a rental Actor ($50/month with a 1-day free trial), so you need an active rental on the account whose token runs the scrape; its usage cost on top of the rental is low (roughly $0.30 per 1,000 results). Use Max items to cap the scraping cost of each run, and start with small values to see actual consumption before scaling up.

Tips

• Be specific in your prompt. "Korean thrillers from the 2010s with rating above 7.5" produces much better search URLs than "movies".
• Start small. Run with a low maxItems first to check that the generated URLs match your intent, then scale up (maximum 500).
• Schedule it. Add the Actor to a Schedule to track new releases or rating changes in a genre, and connect a webhook or integration to act on the results.
• Keep memory at 128 MB. The Actor intentionally refuses to run with more, because the chained Actors do the actual work — extra memory would only add cost.

FAQ, disclaimers, and support

Is it legal to scrape IMDb? This Actor extracts publicly available title data. You are responsible for reviewing and complying with IMDb's Terms of Service and applicable laws (including data protection regulations) before using the results, especially in automated or commercial workflows. Do not collect or misuse personal data.

Why did my run fail with a memory error? This Actor requires memory of 128 MB or less. Lower the memory setting in the run options and start it again.

Why are there no results? If the AI could not generate valid search URLs from your prompt, the run fails with a clear error — rephrase the prompt with more specific title, genre, or era terms and try again.

Found a bug or need a custom feature? Open an issue in the Actor's Issues tab — custom solutions and tailored versions are available on request.