After a year of complaints, public relations nightmares, the underwhelming subscription service MoviePass is shutting its doors permanently. MoviePass managed to stay afloat for a few years, but did not gain much traction until 2017, thanks to their competitive $9.95 monthly plan. A great price for the ability to watch a movie every day.
Their monthly plan drew in millions of new subscribers.
While they should have seen this coming, the price destroyed MoviePass' bottom line, forcing them to change their pricing, which angered many of their subscribers. This continued failure even made it difficult for subscribers to cancel their service. In order to make their service affordable to their subscribers, the company had to pay full price for tickets, while earning less from subscription fees. This caused MoviePass to post losses on a routine basis. They have continued to seek someone to finance their service. Theater companies including AMC, Regal, and Alamo Drafthouse, found a way around MoviePass and launched their own monthly subscription service.
MoviePass peaked in 2018 and never seemed to stay afloat
MoviePass really only saw a decent amount of success for a year, before MoviePass started running out of money in 2018. Since then, MoviePass altered their price plans, as well as restricting the number of films per month. However, due to serious questions of unethical business practices, the company still continued to fail. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that MoviePass final day was Saturday.
MoviePass' demise comes as their competitor Sinemia closed its doors as well, after receiving complaints and continued technical issues with their app. MoviePass has been silent since July 4, despite claims by the company, that the service would be upgraded.
Without MoviePass, AMC and Regal would never see subscription service thrive
MoviePass may have been a massive failure, it still led to the launch of a handful of similar subscription services, including those offered by AMC and Regal. While subscribers were limited to what theaters accepted MoviePass, it still revolutionized the moviegoing experience. As the industry grows, the average ticket prices have risen. Without MoviePass' failure, the reality of subscription-based service for moviegoers would not have become a reality.
Cinema giants across the globe have started their own subscription services including AMC, which launched their "A-List" plan in 2018 and Cinemark which recently launched a similar program.
Both AMC and Cinemark have drawn in over 500,000 subscribers. Helios and Matheson said they are still looking for ways to finance its operations, but have acknowledged that it may not be possible to find financing. With MoviePass gone for good, we will have to wait and see what happens to their competitors and whether they fall victim to similar circumstances.