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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMoviePass' latest survival plan: increase prices, gut first-run movie access
July has not been good for MoviePass, the embattled all-you-can-watch movie ticket subscription service. The company ran out of money and shut down for a night last week. Its compensated by shutting people out of popular movies like Mission: Impossible Fallout. The company has claimed lately that technical difficulties are keeping users from getting movie tickets, though its unclear whether this is also a behind-the-scenes gambit to limit how much of its remaining money users can spend. The MoviePass stock has plummeted. And now, MoviePass has announced a slew of changes that aim to compress its timeline to reach profitability by making the service much more restrictive.
According to a company press release, MoviePass will increase its price to $14.95 a month within the next 30 days. First-run movies will only be viewable on a limited basis during the first two weeks of release, unless the company has a promotional deal with a given film. This is in addition to the already-announced plan to implement surge pricing for popular movies, which users have noted in practice has meant virtually all movies, regardless of ticket demand.
MoviePass statement claims these changes are being made to enhance discovery, and to drive attendance to smaller films and bolster the independent film community. In a widely reported all-hands meeting at the company, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe cited the upcoming Christopher Robin and The Meg specifically as films that would not be available to subscribers.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/7/31/17634508/moviepass-price-increase-limited-first-run-movie-access
CurtEastPoint
(18,549 posts)workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)like Mission: Impossible - Fallout on opening weekend?
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Less benefits for more cost is not a good business model if other options are available.
they clearly know this by the phrase "to drive attendance to smaller films and bolster the independent film community.
Docreed2003
(16,817 posts)The MI-Fallout fiasco this past week was the second time they've had the same issue the weekend a major blockbuster was scheduled to open. They are undermining their own business model by limiting what films subscribers can go see. They will be lucky to make it to Christmas.
TCJ70
(4,387 posts)...everything worked exactly as advertised. Show up, pick a time, see a movie. Easy. I haven't cancelled mine yet but if things continue going south, as they probably will, it won't last long.