MoviePass trapped The startup that aims to revolutionize watching movies in theaters is back (and it has done so, indirectly). After a bankruptcy, a pandemic that shut down movie theaters anyway, and an acquisition, he took another crack at the subscription model. This is what we know about MoviePass 2.0.
What happened to the old MoviePass?
If you’re not up to speed, here’s the short version: For several years, MoviePass offered a simple subscription to watch movies in theaters. The company has tried different models, like $15 a month for a few movies, or $40 to $50 a month for unlimited movies.
Then, in 2018, the company made a bold and silly change: even a movie every day For $10 a month. In many parts of the country, this is less than the price of a single movie ticket. MoviePass was paying full theater price per ticket. Millions of users have signed up, and why wouldn’t they? It was basically free MoviePass money.
The plan did not go well. Over time, MoviePass had to raise prices, customer support began to falter, and the company’s alternative revenue-generating plans fell through. Worse (for MoviePass, but great for us), the theater chains themselves are starting to offer subscriptions of their own.
These were more financially viable, because theaters pay studios less for tickets than MoviePass pays theaters. Plus, even if theaters lose ticket sales, they stand to benefit from increased franchise revenue. (At one point, in an effort to bring in revenue, MoviePass argued that it should take a share of the theaters’ concession sales. This also didn’t go well.)
MoviePass eventually entered bankruptcy, and one of the company’s founders, Stacy Spikes, bought the company back. Why is all this history relevant? Well, if you are planning to sign up, it is worth keeping in mind that this is yet another in a long line of tried business models. It remains to be seen if this will work.
How do I sign up for MoviePass?
The current iteration of MoviePass (dubbed MoviePass Beta) is being rolled out in phases — presumably to help mitigate a similar rush and crash its predecessor experienced (which is certainly a risk factor, since the queue itself crashed the moment a live stream went live). On August 25, 2022, the company opened a five-day waiting list.
If you sign up for the waitlist during that window, you’re in line to get an invite to the new MoviePass. Once you’re in, you’ll get a cache of invites that you can send to your friends. If you miss the waiting list period, finding someone with one of these invites will be your best bet until around summer 2023.
MoviePass Beta does not launch in all markets at once. The company says it measures interest in different parts of the country based on the number of people who signed up for a waiting list in an area. Many major cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Austin have already been reached. Prices will also vary somewhat depending on which city you’re in, particularly in New York and California.
(tags to subtitles) Movies