I just heard about Movie Pass. It’s a company that sells movie tickets. The basic idea is you pay a monthly fee and then you can go to theaters to watch movies for no further charge.
The main limit is that you can only go to one movie per day but that’s not a problem. Also, it has to be theaters that participate in the program.
The Movie Pass monthly fee has been around thirty or forty dollars a month but it’s now dropped down to $9.95 a month. And for that price, I’m on board.
But I’m wondering if there’s some catch I’m missing. Has anyone used Movie Pass? What can you tell me about it?
In poking around on their site, there’s one red flag that I see, almost immediately: while they claim that “we’re accepted at over 91% of theaters nationwide,” apparently, you can’t actually see a list of theaters unless you actually subscribe to the service.
The fact that they won’t let you see the list of participating theaters before you give them money is concerning to me.
Yeah, I was just about to say. They claim you can look this up on the site, but it appears to require an account. My cynical suspicion is that if the selection really was great they’d be singing it from the rooftops. Most of the cinemas around me have move to the very comfortable recliners with reserved seating model, so I suspect I’m a prime candidate for discovering most local places are excluded.
So I guess they’re not just buying tickets from the theaters themselves for their subscribers, but working out some sort of deal with theaters to let subscribers in without a ticket?
I don’t see how AMC or anyone else could have a leg to stand on, legally. It’s not an IP issue. Anyone can buy tickets to a movie, even corporate re-sellers, right?
On the other hand, they acknowledge they’re selling below cost, which isn’t illegal, but can be used as evidence of anti-competitive practices.
I’m aware of the AMC complaints. (It was, in fact, a story about those complaints that made me aware of Movie Pass.) I’ll admit I don’t understand why AMC is unhappy. From what I’ve read, Movie Pass pays the movie theaters the full cost of the tickets. You’d think AMC and other theaters would be delighted to get more customers, collecting full ticket prices from everyone, and having more people to sell snacks to.
I’m also wondering how Movie Pass can sustain this system. Is it like a gym membership, where they’re hoping people will buy the membership and then not get around to using it? Or is the current price a loss leader to get people to sign up and get into a habit of going to movies and then they’ll raise the membership fees back up to a higher rate?
Finally, there’s the app issue. I’m behind the times and I don’t own a phone that does apps. So I don’t know if I can even use Movie Pass.
The reason AMC is upset is the answer to the second question: this is only sustainable if Movie Pass starts getting payments or concessions from the theaters. Movie Pass is giving it away now with no charge to the theaters to gain market share, but if they get big enough (a big if), they’ll demand AMC pay them for the privilege of participating. AMC doesn’t want any middlemen taking money from them.
The MoviePass site & app are completely swamped right now but I found this cached link on Reddit that will show you what theaters in your zip code accept MoviePass: https://go2cinema.com/moviepass-cinemas/
A friend of mine has been a member for a few years now and he says it’s great. He regularly sees many movies per month so even at the $50 price point it was still a good deal for him. We’re in NYC and I don’t think he’s ever had a problem using it. Of course, that could all change with the huge influx of subscribers they’ll get with this $9.95 deal. I just signed up myself. Even if I only use it for one month and see one movie, I still come out ahead.
Apparently you do need the app to check in to the theater, you can then use the card to purchase at the box office.
So, to be clear, there’s no contract for this yet? I can pay $10 and see as many movies as I want for a month and then never pay another dime? Because the “gym business model” essentially requires year long contracts to make money.
That’s plenty for me. I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie in a theater. I thought maybe this service could get me into theaters again.
It’s hard to beat my big screen surround sound system in the comfort of my own home though. No schedules, fees, popcorn is virtually free, no cell phone talkers, no commercials, and I can pause it if I really have to go to the bathroom. But occasionally it makes a nice night out.
AMC has leverage now (or they think they do - I’m not sure what legal argument they can make against it). But if Movie Pass gets big, they can start dictating terms.
I’ve been using MoviePass since last December and love it to death! I was paying $50.00 a month and thought it was a bargain, so I’m thrilled with the new price. The app has been wonky the past couple of days with all the newbies flocking in. I’m on my way to a movie now and I hope it works.
You have to use the app from a smartphone with Location turned on, there’s no way around that.
I’m getting pissed off at AMC’s temper tantrum. They get full price for their tickets so I don’t know what their problem is. If they block MoviePass they’ll lose a lot of money from me alone. I’ve seen around 140 movies at AMC this year. Without MoviePass, I’d just go to Regal and Cinemark, chains I don’t go to often because AMC is so much more convenient. They better straighten up.
That makes no sense. Would Burger King complain if I started buying lots of cheeseburgers from them? According to your theory, yes, because I would somehow be able to leverage buying their products into being able to dictate they pay me to buy from them.
Movie Pass can buy a whole bunch of tickets from AMC. And one day they can ask AMC to pay them. And all AMC has to do is say no. Movie Pass has no leverage that can force AMC to make a deal with them if AMC doesn’t feel the deal is to their advantage.
So worst case scenario for AMC is Movie Pass buys a bunch of movie tickets from them and Movie Pass customers buy a lot of popcorn from them and then Movie Pass goes out of business in six months.
I go to a lot of different theaters, AMC and otherwise. In the Chicagoland area, the only theaters I’ve found that don’t accept MoviePass are the two ArcLight theaters and the two Landmark Centurys. Snobby assholes.
(And the Brew & View, but they’re not snobby assholes. They only charge $5 for double and triple-features. I’ll gladly give my cash to them when they do things like show a wonderful double-feature like Spinal Tap and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.)
All the smaller art house theaters I go to (Gene Siskel Film Center, Music Box, Facets) all accept MoviePass
It seems like AMC’s issue is that they don’t think MoviePass’s model is sustainable, so when the whole thing comes crashing down, customers won’t be willing to suddenly pay full price for movies anymore.
I do see also the anti-competitive aspect of it. Say you have two theaters in town. One’s kinda crappy, with uncomfortable seats and small screens, but with cheap tickets. Then you have another with giant screens and nice comfortable theater seating, but with expensive tickets. If you have MoviePass, which one would you choose to go to?
I might sign up for this since it looks like Emagine participates. Emagine might be a Detroit-local thing, I’m not sure, but it’s an extra swanky theater near me that somehow manages to be competitively priced. They have a full bar and will actually bring your food to you. Frankly settling for AMC would be a quality downgrade (for the same price.)
I basically go to the theater for the concessions these days.
It’s not my theory, it’s a common view of AMC’s argument. I think you discount the leverage MoviePass gains if they have significant market share and starts charging the theaters. Option 1, AMC declines to participate and loses customers to theaters that do. Option 2, AMC pays MoviePass and loses revenue for customers they have now. In their view, either option is a decrease in their revenue from today.
MoviePass argues that AMC will come out ahead because they will gain customers. I’m not addressing which argument I think is correct; I’m just saying why AMC is opposed.
[QUOTE=Slate]
But it’s also easy to guess why a company like AMC would recoil at Lowe’s plan. In its statement, the chain argued that MoviePass’ pricing was economically unsustainable, and “only sets up consumers for ultimate disappointment down the road if or when the product can no longer be fulfilled.” That’s probably a valid concern. But more broadly, AMC can’t be happy about the idea of a digital middle-man inserting itself into its industry, ultimately angling for a cut of the profits from each moviegoer even as it puts downward pressure on the price of an individual ticket.
[/QUOTE]