MoviePass - will it die a premature death or is it here to stay

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/hollywood-2017-in-review-box-office-netflix-1202647206/

There are problems with this business model. MoviePass pays full freight on each individual ticket that it’s customers buy, which means that it is losing money on a per-transaction basis and heavily subsidizing its subscribers’ movie-going. The company hopes that the data it gathers on its customers will eventually be so valuable that studios or movie theaters will give them a steep discount or that it will be able to monetize the information in a different way. It’s unclear if that will happen, particularly given that AMC, the world’s largest exhibitor, has at various points threatened legal action. If MoviePass doesn’t find a way to turn a profit, it could find itself in dire financial straits.

It's interesting cause basically all this was already true before the price drop, but obviously that has massively expanded the user base while reducing what each user pays so whatever's going to happen, they've kicked it into high gear.

Signed up, because what a deal (until they change the terms). Bummed, though, that it seems I can't use it until the card arrives. App requires the last 4 digits.

swiping the card to buy tickets also requires having the card

I just figured they'd email me my card number so I could start seeing movies right away.

a few theaters allow e-ticketing through the moviepass app now, it seems

our local beer/food/cinema place is apparently in on that deal so I'm tempted

very few though, apparently

I've used it at five different theatres this year, and ime cinemas are not set up for you to type your card number into the self-serve kiosk, nor for you to read your number to the box office attendant instead of passing them your card

one of our big AMC theatres was removed from the list of participants, weirdly.

I've used this a fuck ton, though not yet this month. I got in for the $86/annual rate.

I just found about the Costco deal, which is apparently still running, so I'm in

the only thing that sucks about it is if you go to one of the many theatres that do reserved seating now, because unless your theatre has eticketing (which most don't), you have to scan your card at the kiosk/box office, you p much either have to wait for your friend to show up, or buy your ticket and tell them which one to get to sit next to you and hope nobody else buys it.

though so far that hasn't caused major issues.

thanks to this I've gotten Regal fan club freebies a bazillion times a month lol

who is this "friend" you speak of

Peter Riegert

I heard that one of the big AMC's in New York (Times Square?) just stopped accepting MoviePass. If AMC jumps ship it could be a big problem.

for AMC or Moviepass?

AMC has notoriously been against it for weird reasons, and for those who live in areas that don't have as many options, it could strike a blow to the customer base in those areas for sure. people who live near in places like me, though, where there are a ton of chains available, would simply just go to a non-AMC theatre like Regal or Cinemark.

AMC just bought 2/3 of the local corporate-owned theaters here :/

beh.

https://deadline.com/2018/01/moviepass-lack-of-amc-theatres-coverage-1202269412/

Some details...this is actually coming from the MoviePass side

Missed this thread. Moviepass is insane. I've seen 37 movies since September with it. Hopefully they keep burnin' that VC money for a while before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

fwiw at least one of the nyc AMCs, at 86th (?) on the UWS, has never been moviepassable because they're on some premium BS with $20 tickets and recliners and stuff. if times square is dropping off i guess it COULD mean they're upgrading that place, or that moviepass didn't want to reimburse for upmarket tickets. bummer though... i mean schlepping to times square is a drag and the place is a vageuly depressing and unfathomable three-dimensional maze. but it's one of the locations that tends to participate in the big national short-run rereleases. saw close encounters there a while back.

where this really racks up value as a new yorker is at the repertory participants: IFC, quad, metrograph, BAM, alamo. you really could see a good or interesting movie every day on this thing. it's changed my whole relationship to the movies really.

I've used it at five different theatres this year,

update: six.

I used it twice in Manhattan, which was nice considering how much higher movie prices are there compared to here in Orlando.

including the Times Square Regal on 42nd street

The Costco deal came with a year of Fandor, too, so I guess my new problem is to remember to do things other than watching movies

lol i think last week was the first one that I didn't see a movie in months, was a weird feeling

I had meant to use the Costco promo. Turns out they are perfectly cool with you canceling and then going through the Costco promo instead, however, I have to wait for my account to activate first, which means receiving my card and starting the billing cycle first. But then once I cancel I can't use my primary email address for nine months until the account is totally closed. oh well, at least they are reasonably flexible.

man imagine being the moviepass intern stuck writing up little hollow, phony blurbs for stupid emails, hey movie buddy, we know your taste well and that's why we hope you're as excited as we are about MAZE RUNNER: DEATH CURE

this article on the AMC situation gives a much more hardball picture of the details: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/moviepass-cuts-ties-with-amc-theaters-in-battle-for-revenue-share-2018-01-26

“I’m 1,000% ready to do battle,” Ted Farnsworth, chief executive of MoviePass’s majority owner Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc. HMNY, -3.92% told MarketWatch. “Hollywood is definitely paying attention to us, now we have to start pulling levers. We have to say to AMC, ‘look you don't want to deal with us, fine, but we’re not going to keep giving you free money’.’”

Farnsworth initially said he would cut ties with AMC, but MoviePass decided early Friday to pull just 10 of AMC’s more than 600 theaters instead.

MoviePass drove more than 1 million ticket sales to AMC theaters last month, compared with 10,000 sales last July, the month before it cut its monthly subscription to $10 from as much as $50, said Farnsworth. He also noted MoviePass represents roughly 62% of AMC’s operating income.

AMC was quick to rebuke the company after the price cut, saying the business model was unsustainable.

an interesting argument. "we came up with a scheme to transfer massive quantities of VC money from fleeced investors to theaters, promising that we'd eventually find a way to make it profitable. now here it is six months later and you theaters are flush with our VC cash transfers and what have we got to show for it?? about time you started paying your fair share of this deal!" if they are really driving new business to the theaters, which wouldn't surprise me (though them being 62% of AMC's operating income strikes me as completely absurd - wtf is that stat), then maybe it is time to start weaving this idea of fee-sharing into their business plan but it's going to be hard to do it without it looking like a shakedown each time. anyway obviously fee-sharing would only lower moviepass's losses; they still have to find some way of actually making money. could be the Maze Runner ads prove more viable.

the fee-sharing concept also looks kind of wonky from the theater perspective. by participating in moviepass you're making the moviepass subscription more attractive, since people jump on based on "you can use it at all these theaters!" if you're sharing fees with moviepass but another moviepass theater in town isn't, you're both getting the moviepass traffic (plus, hopefully, added popcorn sales etc.) but only one of you is having to share the wealth with moviepass. in a small way, you're subsidizing your competitors.

62%? that doesn't sound remotely plausible

moviepass has definitely gotten me to see movies I wouldn't have paid for, and probably spend more on snacks so maybe they have something there. still don't see that remotely paying off what i'm using from the card though

maybe Moviepass is a mob bustout for some poor schlub's gambling debts

Subscription services - movies, music, cable TV, phones - are a mental weight - I feel obliged to use them and “get my money’s worth.”

once you free yourself of that weight you will feel better imo

I pay them as penance for all I've downloaded.

i also have a tendency towards the get-the-money's-worth neurosis but it doesn't hit me as bad with netflix and moviepass because the price point is so low. together they add up to like, two cocktails with tip. if i watch even one thing on them a month that's a better use of my dollars than drinking (usually). and i use them a lot more than that. ymmv obv. i cannot imagine paying for cable tv though.

agreed, though i am the sucker that pays ~$200/month for cable because my parents can't live without Fox News.
so $10 a month for Amazon, Netflix and Moviepass each is a no-brainer

wow @ fox news... isn't that shit streaming on the web or something? buy them a cheap smart TV for $200 imho.

or just record fake Fox News broadcasts

idk in "goodbye lenin!" that proved to be more trouble than it was worth iirc

just record one week’s worth and play it back
in random order

they can use YouTube, but otherwise they'll never let of classic couch watching. at least they throw in some TCM in there every so often

buncha my FB friends are acting like they're woke for realizing the current model is unsustainable long term, like most people can't do the basic math in their head.

if anything the recent moves to make it work, especially the pushed notifications about maze runner 3, make it even more blindingly obvious that it's doomed. just gotta make it count while i can, i guess. see as many indelible classics on the big screen as you can, folks!

I bought in on the full year thing realizing it's going to be a chase against time to use the card at least a dozen times over a couple months

I'm ready

I've used it 12 times this month

Wired has a piece that gets into some of the implications of the model and what the future might hold.

https://www.wired.com/story/moviepass-second-act/

that's a much more interesting read than the 3700th iteration of "wake up sheeple! did you know $9.95 is LESS than the average price of a movie theatre ticket and that MoviePass is currently LOSING MONEY on every ticket?!!"

whether any of the lofty aspirations pan out obviously remains to be seen but kinda getting tired of smug friends IRL saying "oh you crafty cow, you knowwwwwww that is unsustainable, right dearie?"

tickets here are less but barely

but buying them every day sure isn’t doing em favors

cut forward two weeks, I have made good friends with the popcorn teen, and I now live off of popcorn and sleep in the broom closet at the movie theater

thank you, moviepass

here in town it's gotten so pricey that at some theatres $10 is the fuckin' matinee price!

yup that's true here in NY

Lol there are a million apps that already do shit like that.

lol this is the dumbest thing yet somehow

Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus

— Alex Blechman (@AlexBlechman) November 8, 2021

MoviePass is back!

As.... something. They won't say what it will cost, or what it will actually do, or why anyone should trust them. But SIGN UP NOW to be on the waitlist for the beta version of... whatever it is!!! The FAQ page, hilariously, is concerned primarily with questions about the waitlist, a wonderful harbinger of great communication and customer service to come.

i'm not getting it lol

don't want no short short waitlist

Only about 10 hours left to get on the waitlist!

it's probably going to be the return of Columbia House-style sales.

You get to see 12 movies for the price of 1 (with an agreement to purchase tickets to 12 more movies in the next year).

Gotta say that Alamo's own version of this is way handier.

that's the thing, Regal's unlimited plan was $22 a month for unlimited movies AND I have a Regal in town that gets at least one art film a month mere miles from me, and it lets me reserve seats in advance.

most of our theatres are chains, and the one "art" movie theatre in the city basically watered down its selection years ago to indie films that you could ostensibly see at any theatre. so I have no neeeeeed for Moviepass.

unless they come with glasses that make the movie I'm watching better.

Orlando lost out on the Alamo Drafthouse we were supposed to get due to pandemic, still bitter about that

I signed up for the waitlist because I want to know what kind of clusterfuck they’re planning

I love Alamo's, but gotta admit the AMC version is mostly better because you get to reserve more than 7 days out in advance. Only point in favor of Alamo is that it's one per day, vs AMC's 3-per-week.

Still kind of hope for Moviepass working on the odd arthouse movie theater in my area and the other non-Alamo/AMC chains.

AMCs was decent too, I cut them out when I realized I was spending too much and forced myself to decide between Regal and AMC.

In my case I have a real advantage in that the Alamo is very much my local — as in five blocks away — theater. So honestly it’s my best value for money by default

nice basement too I hear

I'm still on it, just a little disappointed about the 7-day thing and also that they started charging me $1.89 "convenience fee" for each ticket, which is straight-up petty bullshit. And the various "movie party" screenings they programmed to avoid being eligible for Season Pass. etc. But my local Alamo is much closer than the AMCs, too. Since they reopened though, they've put on a lot less "trash" cinema and 35mm screenings that I used to love.

I remember the convenience fees from when I first jumped on Season Pass, they were really irritating then too!

CONGRATULATIONS, CHICAGO!
The Chicago area is one of the first markets in which we’ll be testing the new MoviePassBETA.
Here’s how the new MoviePassBETA will work:
In the coming weeks, we’ll send out exclusive access codes to create your account and sign up for your desired plan. To ensure we are able to meet demand, a limited number of access codes to the MoviePassBETA will be sent at a time. When you receive your code is based on your place in the waitlist.

Once you’ve received your access code, you’ll be able to sign up for one of these plans:

Basic - $10 (1 - 3 movies per month based on peak or off-peak times)

Standard - $20 (2 - 4 movies per month based on peak or off-peak times)

Pro - $30 (3 - 5 movies per month based on peak or off-peak times)

*Prices and credits per tier may vary per market. This is a beta launch so prices and levels are subject to change based on customer and market feedback.

Each tier provides you with credits that you’re able to use at any movie theater that accepts credit cards. The cost of each film varies based on demand and time of the week.

Start going to the movies the same day at supported e-ticketing theaters. Once you get your MoviePass card in the mail, activate it in the app, and go to any theater that accepts credit cards!

It’s our goal to use this beta period to work out the kinks and provide extraordinary service. That’s why we look forward to your feedback as you use the new MoviePass BETA

That… is underwhelming.

But my local Alamo is much closer than the AMCs, too. Since they reopened though, they've put on a lot less "trash" cinema and 35mm screenings that I used to love.

Cunning to have a system that provides worse value the more you spend.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-11-07/moviepass-was-not-a-good-business

The theory was that there were a lot of new marketplace businesses with strong network effects and winner-take-all dynamics, so it was crucial to get lots of customers quickly. If you could do that, you would lock in a leading position in the business, and your customers would come to rely on you. And then you could work out the unit economics — most obviously by raising prices, though you could think of other ways. Perhaps you would achieve some economies of scale when you got really big. Perhaps you could strike some sort of deal with your suppliers to lower your costs. In particular, there was a popular view that customer data was really valuable — “the new oil” — and that if you ended up with a lot of data about a lot of customers you could find some way to make money with it. Sell ads to other money-losing startups, maybe.

This theory sometimes went by the name “blitzscaling,” and it was part of the bull case for big-name startups like Uber Technologies Inc. and WeWork Inc. It was particularly associated with the venture investments of SoftBank Group Corp. and its Vision Fund. But the name that I often used for it around here — which I borrowed from Kevin Roose at the New York Times — was “the MoviePass economy.” Not because MoviePass was the first or biggest company to use this model, but because it was the funniest and most obvious example. When you take an Uber, you don’t really know whether Uber is making or losing money on the transaction. When you saw a movie with MoviePass, you knew.

I totally forget MoviePass even re-launched. Was that article a (second) obituary?

The article mentions (with this NPR link) that it’s coming back “but in a much less funny form.”

it's being rolled out in single cities as test markets and you get "credits" to spend on movies where the price varies depending on popularity, so i'm so it seems like they're actually trying to turn a profit this time

Yeah, I knew it was coming back; Chicago is one of the test markets, and I had an invite, though I had no interest in getting a membership. I just wasn't sure if all that had happened already and the service quickly died a second death.