MoviePass Returns With a New Model and Without the Iconic Red Card (polygon.com) 38
MoviePass, a subscription service for movie theaters which shut down three years ago, is making a return. From a report: Remember the golden days of MoviePass, in early 2018, when $9.95 a month got you unlimited movies? And then, remember when right after, MoviePass reported a $40 million dollar loss in May 2018 and tried and failed over and over again to restructure, before finally calling it quits in 2019? Well, MoviePass is back! Starting on Aug. 25 at 9 am EDT, you can sign up for a waitlist at the MoviePass website for the beta version of the new model. But it's not the same MoviePass we once knew and loved, which, let's be real, was always too good to be true. Instead, this time there will be three subscription price tiers -- $10, $20, and $30 -- each with a different number of "credits" to use each month to see movies. MoviePass has not revealed how many credits each tier gets, nor how many credits are needed to reserve a ticket.
No thanks (Score:2)
Between Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Movies, it's more than enough new movies that I don't have enough time to watch them all.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
it can be nice to go out now and then.
These cinema subscription things generally don't make economic sense unless you see movies very frequently. Considering that most of what's out at any given time is crap, I personally don't see the appeal. Even pre-pandemic, I usually went years between movies that seemed like they'd be worth watching on the big screen.
Post pandemic? Screw it, my el cheapo 55" 4k Black Friday TV is good enough. As for the popcorn, use this stuff [amazon.com] and flavor neutral coconut oil.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
"I see everything." Well, almost, I had to skip the Dragonball thing this weekend, I just can't get into animated oriental super hero stuff. But yeah, I'll fall for this all over again. I had the last one until the last day. Such a deal. See how this plays out.
Re: (Score:2)
For every person who thinks that the theater itself is an important part of the experience there's another person that loathes it. I'd MUCH rather be in the comfort of my own home kicked back on the couch watching a movie than in an uncomfortable chair squished next to a bunch of strangers.
The only reason I ever stepped foot in one was for the sake of getting access to a movie as early as possible. If that is taken away I doubt I'll ever see the inside of a theater again and that'll be amazing.
And it's no
Re: (Score:2)
Once you have your own four walls (so you can turn up the sound) a decent receiver and 42"+ FullHD (or better) TV (or bigger if its a good size room) I have to agree the experience of watching at home vs watching in the theater, is a loosing proposition for the theater.
Until you step up it iMAX presentations I don't really find it more 'immersive' than watching at home any longer. When the best thing you could affordably do at home was a 50" 4:3 NTSC projection TV and marginal Dolby 4.1 fed with VHS - that
Re: (Score:2)
Even without your own four walls, a decent pair of headphones will change your cinema-viewing experience. IMHO the whole surround sound thing is over-hyped, subwoofers are just annoying and the whole audio setup is not worth the trouble.
Re: (Score:1)
Uncomfortable chair? You obviously haven't been to the theater lately. I sit in an overstuffed, laid-all-the-way-flat recliner where I have to tilt up a little to access the straw on my Diet Coke, and it's a marvelous experience. Yeah, I love the theater. And, for pure immersion, you aren't going to match an IMAX playing 2001 A Space Odyssey. Just can't be done anywhere else. You turn your sound up that high, you'll have people 3 doors away calling the cops. And of course the IMAX really fills u
Re: (Score:2)
Setting aside the people who think that the theater itself is an important part of the movie-watching experience, ...
This is a per-movie consideration for me. A theater setting may enhance the experience for some movies, but not others. The latter I will usually wait to see at home on TV. For an example of the former, I saw Gravity [wikipedia.org] in the IMAX theater at the Virginia Air & Space Museum and it was pretty immersive and *much* better there than seeing it (later) on TV, even on Blu-ray w/a home theater setup.
Re: No thanks (Score:2)
There are a lot of negatives at the cinema (bright mobile phones, chatting, feet up on seat next to your head, etc).
And a lot of positives at home (sitting centre, pausing, youâ(TM)re own toilet, etc).
I think the appeal of cinemas is that theyâ(TM)re ânot homeâ(TM). Sometimes itâ(TM)s nice just to watch a movie elsewhere (cinema, mateâ(TM)s, â¦).
Re: (Score:2)
AMC Stubs A-List may be an better deal! (Score:2)
AMC Stubs A-List may be an better deal!
Re: (Score:2)
Going to lose money with every subscription... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
But they plan to make it up with volume.
It's already too loud.
Re: (Score:2)
That was a running joke in my family when we were using it, because we used the *hell* out of it, probably a 5:1 return on the price. When we learned that MoviePass were paying full price for tickets, we started a pool for when it would shut down.
Only Theater Chains can offer this (Score:3)
AMC already has a movie pass like this. Any third party can only cost more money than a movie chain doing it itself.
Unlike GrubHub, etc, which brings delivery to anything, there is very little overhead for a movie theater chain to implement a rewards program because there are very few independent theaters as it is and the chains already have rewards programs and mobile apps.
The local Harkins chain in Arizona has popcorn rewards which makes it trivial to add movie tickets as a subscription just like popcorn. And frankly, it's the concessions that people spend all the money on, so Harkins is smart to focus on loyalty at the concession stand rather than at the box office. A free popcorn costs Harkins 3 cents in product and $1 in labor. A free ticket costs them $6 they still owe to the studio. The consumer doesn't care if they get a $7 free popcorn or an $11 free ticket. It's better to save families money on the food and collect the money for the studios.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep. Only thing of value is the software front/backend to implement it. It's "harder than it looks" to make reliable. That's the only valid model I can see for moviepass: rent the software to the theatre chains.
Re: (Score:2)
AMC already has a movie pass like this. Any third party can only cost more money than a movie chain doing it itself.
Not always. Its all in how they negotiate versus a relationship established directly to the customer.
EG, Verizon has pre-paid phone plans. TotalWireless is TracFone's Verizon resale plan where they are just reselling Verizon service (they resell for most brands - eg Simple Mobile is their equivalent for T-Mobile).
The Tracfone plans are usually cheaper than straight from the provider, even though you're going through a third party. On the other hand their website interface for account management is one of
Re: (Score:2)
Any third party can only cost more money than a movie chain doing it itself.
That is fine providing there are multiple chains of interest. I'm not sure how it works in the USA, but where I live any interesting movie is at Pathe who also have a pass like this. As I've been to a non-Pathe cinema only a handful of times in the past 5 years despite being an absolute cinephile.
This would have made sense where I used to live where my viewing experience was split between several major chains.
Re: (Score:1)
Why do Americans call cinema snack bars "concessions"? Who is conceding what to whom?
Blockbuster, anyone? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Why can't Blockbuster get the same treatment?
Blockbuster did have a subscription plan as part of their attempt to compete with Netflix. It wasn't enough to save 'em, because apparently the majority of customers decided they'd rather stream crap on Netflix (though some viewers do complain about it, but still keep their subscription [youtube.com]) than deal with the hassle of renting and returning physical media, even though Blockbuster's physical media represented a wider range of entertainment choices.
I actually had a Blockbuster subscription back in the day. Rip
Re: (Score:2)
Blockbuster did have a subscription plan as part of their attempt to compete with Netflix. It wasn't enough to save 'em, because apparently the majority of customers decided they'd rather stream crap on Netflix
You're thinking of the wrong Netflix. Netflix's original model of mailed DVD rentals was what killed Blockbuster. Netflix however was smart enough to realize that though they just played David to Blockbuster's Goliath, that business model was doomed to eventually fail and they successfully pivoted to streaming.
Are there still as many cinema fans? (Score:2)
Pre-pandemic, I found the cinema experience to be already strained. High prices for food and drinks, people with their phones on, people rattling food behind you, badly mixed audio that makes the dialog hard to discern and no ability to adjust it, no option to pause to hit the bathroom, etc. Add never ending variants of covid... is this really going to be successful after we've started to get early streaming releases?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Are there still as many cinema fans?
The question isn't are there still as many cinema fans. The question is are there still any real cinema releases to go see? The movie industry is still turtled up to wait for the return of the Happy Times. Times which will likely never return because they are all turtled up. See the catch 22?
They likely still have a customer base just waiting to go back, but it's not a customer base that will accept their rampant greed. For a whole generation ticket price increases have far exceeded inflation, and thei
Re: (Score:2)
There's evidence those early streaming releases are going away and things are returning bac
Theater chains can do this themselves (Score:1)
Yeah, I know how this will work (Score:3)
But hey, I'm sure it will be totally worth it.
Need more content .... (Score:2)
I'd consider at least the $10 tier for this, except I can't say there are almost any movies out I'd want to go see?
I mean, there are obviously some that I'd probably just go see to see them, if I had "credits" to burn anyway. But then the downside is that you've got to go when it's showing, vs just watching at home at any random time you feel like sitting down to watch something.
The bottom line is, the theater experience is superior and I'd go to the one near my house -- but only for a movie that promises t
MoviePass is the next SCO (Score:2)
It just won't die.
Re: (Score:2)
but it runs on Amiga!
Nope. (Score:2)
Nobody will want it unless it is a deal for them. Their old model was to essentially give money away, so yeah, it was wildly popular until they didn't have any more money to give away. If it is not advantageous to the customer, then there is no reason to use it over just buying a ticket when you show up.
Takes special movie to go see at theater (Score:2)