• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Moviepass Rises again

AJUMP23

Member

MoviePass is about to write the next chapter in its turbulent history. A beta of the revived service will launch on or around September 5th (Labor Day). Pricing will vary depending on each market, but it will be a tiered system costing around $10, $20 or $30 per month. Insider, which first reported the relaunch details, notes that users will get a number of credits each month to see movies in theaters. There won't be an unlimited plan at the outset.

MoviePass cofounder Stacy Spikes announced at a launch event earlier this year that users will be able to transfer credits. There was no mention of that in an FAQ, though it says more details will be revealed later. The FAQ does not provide details of the Web3 framework Spikes said the service would use, nor was there any mention of the eye-tracking tech the app will supposedly employ to reward users with credits for watching ads.


Those who want to try out the revamped MoviePass can join a first-come, first-served waitlist, which will open at 9AM ET on Thursday on the company's website and close at 11:59PM on Monday. The beta will have a limited number of users and MoviePass will start sending invites on September 5th. If you're selected and you become a member, you'll receive 10 invites that you can send to friends. Returning users who are on the waitlist will receive extra credits when they join.



The beta won't go live across the entire US at once. In the FAQ, MoviePass says the "launch determination will be weighted on level of engagement from the waitlist in each market as well as locations of exhibition partners." It added that the service will be available at all major theaters in the US that accept major credit cards. The company says it has officially partnered with a quarter of US theaters.

There will be a physical card again, though it will be black instead of red. You can use it to pick up tickets at a theater's box office. Alternatively, you can book tickets through the MoviePass app.

Spikes, who regained control of MoviePass last November, created the service with Hamet Watt in 2011. Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY) bought the service in 2017. A subscription plan introduced that year offered users a movie ticket a day for $10 per month. That approach unsurprisingly proved unsustainable despite the plan's popularity. The app shut down in 2019.

HMNY filed for bankruptcy the following year amid investigations from the Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, several district attorneys in California and New York's attorney general. Among its other questionable business practices, MoviePass at one point forced those on an annual plan to renew their subscription three months early if they wanted to keep it. Former CEO Mitch Lowe suggested that the app was tracking users' locations too. Lowe, fellow principal Theodore Farnsworth and HMNY reached a settlement with the FEC last year over charges that they prevented subscribers from using the service and didn't do enough to secure users' data.

The revival of MoviePass comes at a time when theaters are still struggling to drum up business in the wake of pandemic-imposed closures. Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld, the second-largest movie theater chain in the world, said today that it's considering filing for bankruptcy. The company has around $5 billion in debt. It claimed that the relative lack of blockbusters this year has left it struggling to draw movie fans back to theaters. Global box office revenue this year is down by a third compared with 2019.


My all time favorite subscription service. They lost money on me and I was only going to a movie a week. The 6 months of my unlimited plan was a good time.


What will the price of the new service be?
There will be 3 pricing tiers. Prices will vary depending on each market but the general prices will be $10, $20, $30. Each level will get a certain amount of credits to be able to use towards movies each month. More details to come.
 
Last edited:

Melon Husk

Member
1Tip.gif


Why wont you die?
 

DanteFox

Member
Insane that a company thought it would be a good idea to buy MoviePass, and to fund a second venture into the industry.
 
Last edited:

Husky

THE Prey 2 fanatic
Damn, I felt personally responsible for slaughtering those boys, I saw about a dozen movies a month on their dime. I can't wait to fuck with em again. Let's kill em again, brothers.
 

LordCBH

Member
I remember when they tried to tell me I couldn’t cancel my plan when they were in the death spiral so I just canceled my card and got a new card.
 

AJUMP23

Member
I went to the theater to buy a movie and the card was declined. I payed $90 for the year probably saw $300 worth of films.
 

Rest

All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
Create model that doesn't work
Lose money
Go bankrupt
????
Profit!
 

AJUMP23

Member
Just a reminder Signup is in 15 minutes.


Joining the waitlist is broken....just like Moviepass.
 
Last edited:

AJUMP23

Member
I was just offered the beta signup for movie pass. 10 20 and 30 dollar a month programs. I don’t know if I want to do it. 10 dollars get you 3 movies a month but not much details on rollover or anything.
 

Lasha

Member
I was just offered the beta signup for movie pass. 10 20 and 30 dollar a month programs. I don’t know if I want to do it. 10 dollars get you 3 movies a month but not much details on rollover or anything.

How does the service make money? Do theatres sell the tickets to movie pass at a discount?
 

AJUMP23

Member
How does the service make money? Do theatres sell the tickets to movie pass at a discount?
That was the issue with the last version, it didn't make money. This version hopes to make deals and get people in the theater with limiting the amount of movies you could see.
 

Lasha

Member
That was the issue with the last version, it didn't make money. This version hopes to make deals and get people in the theater with limiting the amount of movies you could see.

Weird. It seems like a pretty good deal. I love going to the Cinema. I could easily do a movie every week.
 

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
They're already off to a bad start.

You can't just say pay me between 10 and 30 bucks a month, and you can see between 1 and 11 films monthly.
WHERE??? What are the conditions and terms? How often can I use the service? What kind of black out dates are there? Can I see brand new movies, or only after they have been in the theater for a while?

I need a lot more information before I just start giving out credit card details...
 

AJUMP23

Member
They're already off to a bad start.

You can't just say pay me between 10 and 30 bucks a month, and you can see between 1 and 11 films monthly.
WHERE??? What are the conditions and terms? How often can I use the service? What kind of black out dates are there? Can I see brand new movies, or only after they have been in the theater for a while?

I need a lot more information before I just start giving out credit card details...
I signed up and I am in the BETA. What you get essentially are tokens. and depending on the time of day is how many tokens the movie cost. Matine is 10 tokens, evening show is 20 tokens. I have no idea if that is higher on a premier or opening.

For $10 a month you get 34 tokens. I do not know if they roll over yet. I will keep it updated.

I don't go to as many movies as I use to so I do not know if this will be worth the $120 a year.
 
Top Bottom