By MARK LINDSLEY
Staff Writer
MoviePass is a monthly subscription service that costs $9.95 per month and allows its users to watch a movie in theaters every day with only a few limitations. This means that any member who watches two or more movies a month will essentially be watching free movies, courtesy of MoviePass.
The trial launch of their app offered exactly what they are offering now but cost $50 a month, which they quickly realized was too expensive. However, at the current price, the company is at risk of hemorrhaging money until they are able to prove the effectiveness of their concept.
“We hope over the next couple of years we’ll show ourselves to be part of the movie entertainment ecosystem,” MoviePass’ CEO Mitch Lowe said in an interview with CNET. “If we do that, then we want to sit down with the theaters, the studios, and figure out how we all can make more money.
“That is a multiyear process and it involves integrating with the theater’s point-of-sale system. Over six percent of our theaters are integrated with
us and are true partners. You can pick your seats, and we’re working on your ability to pick concessions. But that means 94 percent of our theaters are not yet at that point.”
Once a person signs up for MoviePass, a card is mailed to them within seven business days and the customer can begin their cheap movie-watching experience.
“Our patent is kind of a remote, GPS-driven credit card authorization technology,” Lowe said. “Essentially what we do is tie a credit card to the unique ID in your phone. You pick the movie, the theater and the showtime, and when you get within 100 yards of the theater with your phone, you check in.”
Some of the current limitations of the app are that customers can only order one ticket at a time per account/ phone, they must use their MoviePass MasterCard to purchase their ticket within 30 minutes of ordering it, MoviePass keeps track of what movies they watch and doesn’t allow a customer to watch the same movie more than once, they can’t use it to go to an IMAX or 3D movie and if they don’t watch more than 12 movies in a year, they are just giving MoviePass money for no reason. With the rising popularity of streaming services like Hulu and Netflix, movie theatres have been experiencing a steady decline in customers for years, but Lowe believes that MoviePass can help
reverse that trend.
“We’re putting millions of dollars on the line to prove that we can be a valuable member of the moviegoing ecosystem,” Lowe said.
Lowe was involved with Netflix and Redbox when they started and helped to turn them into household names, which put Blockbuster out of business. And although the future of MoviePass is unclear, he has proven that he knows his way around the movie industry.
Currently, MoviePass says it can be used at 91 percent of theatres nationwide, which includes AMC and Regal, according to Business Insider. Anybody who watches two or more movies a month can financially bene t from MoviePass. Sign up by going to MoviePass.com or by downloading the MoviePass app.
