MoviePass Is Off to a Good Start and Cinemas May Not Be Able to Stop It
MoviePass’s new $ 10 a month price tag seems too good to pass up. They quickly expanded their subscriber base, and despite the chagrin of the country’s largest movie theater operator, it doesn’t look like anyone can do anything about it.
According to Deadline Hollywood, in just two days, MoviePass was able to raise its sub-level to over 150,000 people. This is more than seven times what they had subscribers last December (when the basic package was $ 15) and already surpasses their target subscriber level at the end of 2018. Helios and Matheson Analytics , which recently bought MoviePass, report that MoviePass traffic is already high. more and more often with their unnamed partners in the theater (from 206 to 4,137 per week). People want unlimited movies and they want them now.
MoviePass recently sent out an email to new subscribers saying:
We were shocked by all the excitement with our new $ 9.95 unlimited data plan. While we expected a high level of interest, we received an unprecedented amount of traffic: so large that it completely destroyed our servers. Last week, MoviePass became the # 1 consumer news in the world.
To meet this demand, our manufacturing facility has rapidly expanded its capacity. Currently, you should expect to receive your card around September 6-10. If you signed up on Tuesday 15 August or Wednesday 16 August, expect sooner. Orders are processed on a first come, first served basis. We apologize for the delay. Your account will not be activated until you receive your MoviePass card and the billing date is changed accordingly …
However, they go on to explain that new subscribers can still watch movies in theaters that agree to accept MoviePass e-tickets. You will need to check the MoviePass app to see if there are suitable cinemas in your area.
AMC, the largest movie theater operator in the United States, issued a press statement, “I do not welcome you here,” on the launch day of the new subscription, which says it hopes to block MoviePass subscriptions. They called the new plan “a shaky and unsustainable program” and expressed concern that if MoviePass failed, consumers would be left with the impression that movie tickets were overpriced. The point is, AMC cannot stop them, even if they want to.
MoviePass has an agreement with MasterCard to provide their pre-loaded debit cards that subscribers use to purchase full price movie tickets. MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe told Variety :
“We are fully compliant with MasterCard rules and AMC has signed agreements with both our credit card processor and MasterCard to comply with all rules. In fact, they will have to not accept MasterCard in order to block us. “
AMC probably doesn’t want to do this as it will alienate most of their customers. So what can AMC and other theater operators do? For now, they can block e-tickets to make using MoviePass more inconvenient. This means that you do not need to buy tickets at home for concerts at a later time or date. Even so, MoviePass subscribers can still walk up to AMC and buy a movie ticket with their MoviePass card, and AMC will have to smile and accept the full ticket price they are paid.
But here’s what’s interesting: Of all the cinemas that MoviePass subscribers currently have access to, only 6% offered e-tickets anyway . Thus, blocking e-tickets reduces only a very small number of them. MoviePass users can still walk up to almost any theater and flip through the map for free every day for free. However, if MoviePass users use the service as advertised, that is, watch several films a week, the company could lose a lot of money. The money they hoped to recoup by making deals with movie studios and theater operators once they hopefully prove they can increase traffic and showcase all the fashion data they collect . At this point, studios and cinemas don’t seem to be too happy with this new approach to moviegoers, so we need to see how it all shakes up.
That said, if you’ve recently signed up for MoviePass, it should work great for now – even in AMC theaters (not for e-tickets). Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to look at my mailbox again, waiting for my card to arrive.