Find by ID returning empty results

The Movie Database Support

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posted by andreproco
STAFFMOD
on July 3, 2023 at 3:08 PM

Hi, I am using the Find By ID (https://developer.themoviedb.org/reference/find-by-id) method to get some details about movies or TV shows but it keeps returning empty results. Here is an example JavaScript call, written inside of the playground component of the documentation page. The movie is 'Elemental':

const options = {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: {
    accept: 'application/json',
    Authorization: <my auth key>
  }
};

fetch('https://api.themoviedb.org/3/find/976573?external_source=imdb_id', options)
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(response => console.log(response))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

The result I am getting:

{
  "movie_results": [],
  "person_results": [],
  "tv_results": [],
  "tv_episode_results": [],
  "tv_season_results": []
}

8 replies (on page 1 of 1)

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Reply by Travis Bell

STAFFMOD

on July 3, 2023 at 4:21 PM

For IMDb ID searches, you need to prefix them with tt.

Also, is it the latest Pixar movie Elemental you're talking about? If so, the IMDB ID is 15789038, not 976573.

https://api.themoviedb.org/3/find/tt15789038?external_source=imdb_id&api_key=###

Reply by andreproco

STAFFMOD

on July 3, 2023 at 5:49 PM

Okay with your url I managed to retrieve Elemental data. But I am confused now by the id. I am getting this object back:

{
    "adult": false,
    "backdrop_path": "###",
    "id": 976573,
    "title": "Elemental",
    "original_language": "en",
    "original_title": "Elemental",
    "overview": "In a city where fire, water, land and air residents live together, a fiery young woman and a go-with-the-flow guy will discover something elemental: how much they have in common.",
    "poster_path": "###",
    "media_type": "movie",
    "genre_ids": [
        16,
        35,
        10751,
        14,
        10749
    ],
    "popularity": ###
    "release_date": "2023-06-14",
    "video": false,
    "vote_average": ##,
    "vote_count": ##
}

As you can see, the id property holds a different value form the one in your URL.

Reply by Travis Bell

STAFFMOD

on July 3, 2023 at 7:13 PM

That’s the TMDB ID, which is completely separate from IMDB.

If you already have the TMDB ID, make a call directly to the asset:

https://api.themoviedb.org/3/movie/976573

Reply by javpot

STAFFMOD

on July 24, 2023 at 4:43 PM

@travisbell said:

That’s the TMDB ID, which is completely separate from IMDB.

If you already have the TMDB ID, make a call directly to the asset:
https://api.themoviedb.org/3/movie/976573

what if I want don't want a movie specifically ? I want to return either a movie or a tv show? does it still work with the prefix /movie/ before the url?

Reply by robbie3999

STAFFMOD

on July 24, 2023 at 5:53 PM

Hi @javpot, here is the API reference. As you can see on the left, there are separate calls for movie and tv. So a request for a tv series would be:

https://api.themoviedb.org/3/tv/{tv_series_id}

TMDB id numbers are not unique between movies and tv, the same number can be used for a movie and a tv series.

Reply by javpot

STAFFMOD

on July 27, 2023 at 2:41 PM

@travisbell said:

That’s the TMDB ID, which is completely separate from IMDB.

If you already have the TMDB ID, make a call directly to the asset:
https://api.themoviedb.org/3/movie/976573

thanks for your answer is there a way to have access to the trailer of the movie or tv show? I don't see the url of the trailer inside the json

Reply by robbie3999

STAFFMOD

on July 27, 2023 at 4:58 PM

Trailers for movies and tv can be accessed using the "videos" endpoint.

https://developer.themoviedb.org/reference/movie-videos

https://developer.themoviedb.org/reference/tv-series-videos

The youtube key returned can be accessed as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={key}

Reply by javpot

STAFFMOD

on July 29, 2023 at 9:01 AM

@robbie3999 said:

Trailers for movies and tv can be accessed using the "videos" endpoint.

https://developer.themoviedb.org/reference/movie-videos

https://developer.themoviedb.org/reference/tv-series-videos

The youtube key returned can be accessed as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={key}

alright thank you

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