MoviePass' Low Subscription Price Just Got Lower (hollywoodreporter.com) 96
In a move to lure new subscribers, MoviePass has dropped the price of its monthly subscription service from about $10 per month to just under $7. From a report: The company said for $6.95 per month, new subscribers will get one movie ticket per day, a minor catch being that users must pay for a year up-front. There is also a one-time $6.55 processing fee. It's the umpteenth time that MoviePass has changed its price since launching six years ago at $40 per month (before raising it to $50), most significantly eight months ago when it was cut to just $9.95. The change had the desired effect, as subscribers swelled from 20,000 then to nearly 3 million today. Still, MoviePass is not without its critics, as some theater chains -- most notably AMC -- have criticized the service for allegedly cheapening the moviegoing experience. Also, industry executives worry that MoviePass cannot survive (it pays mostly full price for the movie tickets its subscribers use) and wonder if users that are left in the lurch when it folds will ever want to pay $9 (the average price in the U.S.) per ticket again.
Not Interested (Score:1)
Still not interested. Even if you lower your price all the way to zero.
Now, what I WOULD be interested in is a subscription service that let me watch movies on the day of release AT HOME. That would actually have some value to me.
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If you're rich, you already can: https://www.engadget.com/2013/... [engadget.com]
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If I were rich, I wouldn't bother watching movies at all.
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Frankly, the go-out-to-a-movie experience has turned to shit in general.
Maybe you should consider a different theater.
I went and saw a movie a few months ago. The theater was crowded--sold out, in fact--but I had a reserved seat. It was a nice comfy lounge chair. It wasn't particularly noisy or smelly.
So I'm not sure what theater you're going to, but perhaps you should consider going to a different one.
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It was a nice comfy lounge chair.
So? I have that at home, but without someone else's boogers.
I don't see the appeal of movie theaters. I would much rather wait until I can rent it for $3.99 for the whole family on Amazon Video.
My wife is less patient, and has TWO MoviePass cards. She goes to see at least one movie a week, and takes along one of the kids, or a friend, or sometimes me. So they are losing a lot of money on her. She is paying $20 for the two cards, and (according to TFA) MoviePass is paying the theaters $80 to $100 per mo
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I don't see how they can stay in business.
Because they will sell the data that they collect from you to other companies that want the data. Much like with Facebook and Google, YOU (and the data about you) are the product, and the customer is the other companies buying that data from MoviePass.
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I started going to the movies again because of moviepass. It has allowed me to remember how annoying people at the theater can be. Even if everyone has their cellphones quieted, they still talk to one another when I'm trying to listen to the movie. Also, the snack prices are all more than I paid to see the movie. So I have a strong incentive to eat beforehand and NEVER eat movie popcorn/candy/sodas. If something happens in a movie, someone will yell out: "Hah!" It's more annoying than you might think. I'm n
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At home, I have a screen, stereo, a remote with a pause button, quiet environment, suitable lighting, food, drinks, free parking, proximity to the spawn of my loins and distance from inconsiderate assholes - everything I need for a good movie experience EXCEPT the fucking movie. That is ALL I require. That's ALL I am interested in paying for.
If I could get "once per day" or even "once per week" access to current run movies, I'd gladly pay for that. A year in advance too.
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I just watch films as they get home releases. I don't have any need to watch them the instant they hit theatres.
"New" just means "new to me". I don't give a shit when other people watch them.
On the whole I totally agree, but I can see why others don't. Watching a blockbuster, (or even just a reasonably popular movie), close to its release, means there are friends and co-workers that you can talk to about the flick while it's still fresh in everybody's minds. Plus, you're less likely to hear spoilers.
I think cinemas as we've known them are pretty much in their death throes anyway. I suspect that within a decade, new movies will be available for home viewing either immediately, or within a week o
Re: Not Interested (Score:1)
You'll eventually get what you're looking for, which makes me very sad. It will kill theaters. And the internet has already killed almost every other reason to ever leave your house.
I like going to the theater. I like that it's not my house. I like it even though conditions aren't perfect.
I don't want to try to stop you from achieving your dream of watching movies on your couch sooner. I hope it makes you happy when you inevitably get it. It just makes me terribly sad.
cheapening the moviegoing experience (Score:3, Insightful)
... as some theater chains -- most notably AMC -- have criticized the service for allegedly cheapening the moviegoing experience.
Funniest thing I've read all week. Thanks AMC, et al.
Re:cheapening the moviegoing experience (Score:4, Insightful)
I think AMC overestimates the desirability of the movie-going experience. In reality, they should be happy that it's actually causing people to come to their bullshit establishment in the first place. They're going to charge moviepass whatever they want to charge, and cheaper ticket prices are actually likely to increase the amount of money cheap-asses like me are willing to spend on concessions.
Sorry movie stars - the fact that you demand $20million+ dollars to run around and pew-pew bad buys is one of the reasons why movies cost so much. Sorry movie studios - your unwillingness to take a risk on unproven concepts because you feel some need to spend $100million+ on a moive because insist on making $200million+ at the box office is the other reason why movies cost so much. Unfuck your brains and maybe the struggling middle class can take a family to Redundant Action Shooter Part 14 without spending nearly $200 for the "luxury".
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The hundreds of millions of dollars in special effects and marketing probably plays a role.
Cheaper than Netflix. (Score:2)
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That's basically cheaper than Netflix and on a better screen.
Sure, but with Netflix you can watch movies in your jammies and eat your own food. (And the floors are probably way less sticky - unless you have kids.)
Okay, okay. You could probably do that at a theater too, but it could be problematic ...
"One day I was kicked out of a movie theater for bringing my own food, so I said: 'C'mon the prices for the food here are outrageous... and besides I haven't had a barbeque in a long time...' " - Steven Wright
Re:Cheaper than Netflix. (Score:4, Insightful)
Smaller than Netflix too (Score:2)
Too bad Netflix's library dwindles each year
Too bad a theatre can only show a dozen movies versus the thousands at Netflix, regardless of a "shrinking" library.
lol.
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You get a special credit card they fund with the exact price of the movie when you want to go.
Unless you clone it, and it's not chipped, you won't be able to share it as easily as you imply.
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if you're going to that much effort to defraud a company.
why not just pirate? its easier.
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The other thing is you can only see each movie once, at least according to the agreement. I haven't tried to see if I told it I was seeing movie A when really bought a ticket for identically priced movie B.
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The other thing is you can only see each movie once, at least according to the agreement.
Old info, this is no longer true. You can now see the same movie multiple times.
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One movie per calendar day. My wife has seen The Greatest Showman 5 times using her account. A woman in line one day told me it's actually one movie per 24 hours, so when she went back the next morning she was declined, even though the terms say per calendar day. I haven't tested that.
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Because no movie theater has online ticket purchasing with saved CC into?
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MP won't activate the card until the phone is within 100 yards of the theater and won't cover any online purchasing fees.
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Isn't that a violation of their merchant contract?
https://www.creditcards.com/cr... [creditcards.com]
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Not the exact price. They put more on the card, which expires after 30 minutes. I assume they do that so they don't have to keep track of individual cinemas' prices which can vary throughout the the day. Theater employees suggested a friend of mine use the excess for his wife, which cut her price in half. When I go alone they suggested he use the excess toward concessions. He complied and MoviePass revoked his account for what they claimed was using the card to see 3D movies (only regular 2D movies are
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That's basically cheaper than Netflix and on a better screen. Also, if the app is on a shared smartphone, that's one movie per day for any member of a family or set of roomies.
A bigger screen, sure. But no projection screen outside of a true IMAX theatre is going to be better than my direct view OLED. And I can't even tell you where the closest, true IMAX theater is, let alone what movies are available to watch on it.
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Re:Cheaper than Netflix. (Score:4, Interesting)
They track where you go and what you do before and after the movie. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
To use this app, you basically give them more info about you than your doctor, therapist, and the IRS combined.
Turn off background refresh for their app, and they can't track anything when the app isn't running (on iOS at least). I did this 30s after I installed it.
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When I read that I disabled the app's access to location. If I try to run it it fails since it can't tell where it is. When I get to the theater I'll enable location and turn it back off from inside the theater.
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Bigger != Better.
My movie screen comes with the comfort of my couch, the convenience of pausing the movie for bathroom breaks, and the low-cost of my own store-bought food.
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Well, first. yes.
Second, the app is tied to a particular name and debit card and you can't load it until you are within a couple hundred feet of the theater.
Third, Their sites and app didn't work for me when I tried to sign up a couple weeks ago.
Fourth, it really is starting to sound "too good to be true". How can they charge $7 a month and offer a service that costs up to about $300 a month?
Something smells. But I guess if you use it 10 times really fast when you first get it, then anything after that
It's not mainly about movie ticket prices (Score:3)
It's about having enough movies worth watching at all.
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It's about having enough movies worth watching at all.
That's my thought. It's overpriced. I watch every single movie I want to in the theater, which means I was there last year one time.
Re:It's not mainly about movie ticket prices (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh no, something that you aren't the intended audience for! Their business must immediately fail.
For as many cranky people on here that want to cry about 'omg no good movies' and 'wtf stupid overpriced popcorn' or 'way more comfy at home' there are plenty (literally millions) who have already eagerly signed up for this service.
They like at least one movie a month enough to go see it. They either don't buy overpriced snacks or don't care (booze in a bar is 'overpriced' too). They actually enjoy leaving their houses for the larger screen, better sound, etc.
Plus, moviepass works in theatres playing indie films depending on your area. And...while some movies I wouldn't pay full NYC price to see I also don't mind popping in on a free afternoon to watch when there's no cost to do so...and if it's horrible I can just leave. ...but I'll get off your lawn now sir. Very sorry to have stepped on your grass.
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That's all fine and dandy - but what about the millions who do NOT fall into the group you mention? That's a rich market - why ignore it? Why not make a product for THEM too? It doesn't HAVE to be either/or.
I don't understand why the studios don't pursue the opportunity to make more profit for themselves. Charge me $15 to see a new release movie and keep ALL of it for yourself. Allow the usual suspects (Apple, Amazon, Netflix) to distribute it with a $2 markup for themselves. I'll pay $17 for that. E
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So what about the millions of people who don't buy cars from Honda, or vehicles at all? Does that mean Honda has a failed business model?
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I've never used Move Pass so that would be a hard nope. The willful obtuseness that other members of my species is a bit worrisome, though. You do you know that expecting a company to be all things to all people is a farce of a proposition, yes?
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I never suggested a company should be all things to all people. All I suggested is that they not be quote so narrow-minded.
Same could be said for some Slashdot posters.
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I don't disagree, but at that pricepoint I'd be a lot more willing to see all kinds of movies that I wouldn't otherwise pony up for. Basically zero risk at that point - if I'm not enjoying a movie I can get up and leave without feeling like I've thrown away a lot of money.
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For me too, it's not mainly about movie ticket prices. It's about the horrible and long-lasting legislation corporate movie makers lobby for and the adverse effect on the public (unnecessary and unhelpful copyright term extension made worse by making it retroactive, for instance). I don't want to fund that, so I don't.
And I also don't agree with Americans who downplay or criticize connecting what they're paying to see with that legislation as if the two are somehow unrelated. It wasn't long ago that the sam
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I don't think this is a chain letter, it's an offer that is too easily schemed against. It's to easy for the customer getting more service than they paid for, so I expect this to go bankrupt mid-year for most users. That's exactly what happened to MyGallons, a gas price hedging club.
Wished it would have worked (Score:2)
The real issue (Score:2, Insightful)
The real issue is will they be around in a year? I might do this, but you better believe I'm going to try and recoup my yearly fee ASAP.
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I bet they will, I can imagine tons of people will use it the first couple months, the stoop.
They got their full year, plus float.
Not for me (Score:1)
Still not sure how much I'd pay for:
- PITA drive, parking
- Dirty theater with crap all over the floor and seats
- Being surrounded by inconsiderate complete strangers who talk through the movie
- Distractions from all the flowing smartphones from people texting during the movie
- The "privilege" of buying bad food that costs 10X what it should
- Not being able to drink alcohol (yes, I know SOME theaters allow this, but not many)
- Not being able to pause the movie to use the bathroom
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The only places at the local mall open past 10PM are bars and the movie theater. The mall itself is in a different town than most of the surrounding roads, so the (very bored) town cops will wait at the town line and nab DUIs all night - it would be hilarious if one of those caught had come out of a movie rather than a bar. There's no excuse to drive drunk: the city buses run past midnight, the mall has a taxi stand, and overnight parking is allowed (so they can leave their car without fear of ticketing).
Not applicable for the capital ... (Score:1)
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With 4K TVs getting cheap, and BluRay now competing with the likes of NetFlix, Amazon Prime movies, and cable on-demand, theaters are no longer the only way to see a high-quality movie. I expect ticket prices to sink soon.
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One ticket per day sounds like a reasonable limit equating to "unlimited"... with the prices you pay for getting there the limiter from redeeming the ticket every day.
Too good to be true (Score:2)
Seems to cheap here. They must be betting that 6/7 of the tickets promised go unused. If they have to pay the theater the full price of the ticket, how are they making money? This seems like MyGallons getting scammed in to the way of bankruptcy.
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Subscribers get a debit card from them and they have access to smartphone location data. They're getting their RoI on the info they gather from their subscribers. While the average slashdotter is smart enough to work around this (burner phone with data plan, or various phone configuration settings, etc) most users will blissfully turn that over without a second thought.
Slashvertisement (Score:2)
Less dodgy discount programs out there (Score:2)
For this one you're giving this company a lot of personal info in exchange for the "free" movie ticket.
On the very rare occasion I actually want to see a movie (which has never been more than once in a month), I'll buy the tickets through the union for $6 each. Since I can buy more than one at that rate, I'm not stuck convincing my buddies to pay 2-3x more than I am to go out to a movie. College students and employees can get similar deals through student associations and the like. People just have to act
How disconnected they are... (Score:1)
Seeing a bit of this in Australia, sort of. (Score:2)
Seeing deals to get movie tickets sub $12 / $10 and even $8 AUD (10 / 8 / 6$ US) per ticket.
Mind you, it's a deal thing, sometimes it excludes one or two top end films, also if you go to I dunno, say an 8:30 session and it's playing in the 'Deluxe' room with better seats, you're forced to pay a $2 upgrade fee on the tickets (Etc)
That being said, they do seem desperate to get people in seats. I've also heard a lot of cinemas took a beating on Star Wars TLJ paraphenalia, big time. Ours has been selling e
If it weren't for AMC we would not be going (Score:2)
If it weren't for AMC we would not be going to the movies. We like the advanced seat selection. If the seats we want are not available, then it is no big deal. We just pick a different time and maybe date. We have two AMC theaters close to us. One is actually better than the other with more comfortable seats. That's the theater we prefer. We don't have to rush. We know where we are going to sit before we leave the house. I don't care for the Prime viewings as it seems to be nothing more than AMC LO