Movie Pass: your thoughts?

Cracker Funk

Cracker Funk

Anybody heard of Movie Pass? It's kinda rad. For $35/mo, I watch basically as many movies as I want, in pretty much any theater, nationwide.

Restrictions:

You're only allowed one movie per day.
You're not allowed repeat viewings for the same movie.
Imax and/or 3D are not allowed.

Also, you must have either an Android or an iPhone.

I'm perfectly fine with each and every one of those restrictions. Even without Movie Pass, I definitely watch at least one movie per week, so for me, this membership is paying for itself. But now that I can effectively watch as many as I want, I'm taking FULL advantage. It's been fun, definitely worth the monthly $35 membership fee, as I'm now encouraged to watch movies in the theater that I might not have otherwise (hello documentaries, woot-woot)!

Anybody read anything about how the heck this company is making money, and what their partnership with the Studios might look like? Or instead of the studios, did they instead make a deal with theater chains?

On somebody like me, they're definitely losing money, sorry Movie Pass. I was already spending more than $35/mo.

So, I'm assuming that their hope is they'll be able to attract those people who maybe only watch 1-2 movies per month? With Movie Pass, these people might begin watching one or more per week, but the net profit is still more than if these people didn't have Movie Pass. Right?

The whole thing is rather confusing to me. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that such an organization even exists. Your thoughts?
 
It's been out in Britain for a while.

The no-repeat viewing thing blows.

If you consistently see 3 or more films a month, it's probably a good deal. I reckon they bank on it being more like a gym membership, though, making bux on the people who don't ever show up.

It's not something I'm interested in, with the local dollar theater being the best deal by far - and sure, it might not have an Imax screen but I can see a 3D flick there (if I wanted to, meh). Still the best value by a long shot.

Are you really going to have time to see all these extra movies, though? And if you insist you do... what other current subscription services do you have, that will be used less as a result... and should be cancelled? After all, there's still only so many hours in a day, no matter how many auto-billing subscriptions you sign up for.

.
 
I'm going to check it out, I could definitely see coming out ahead with this.

Here's how I figure it works - we can already get discount tickets around here at costco for $7-8/ticket. Costco probably pays $5-6 for each. Moviepass is probably getting a similar deal, so at $35/month they can make a profit if you go to 6 movies or fewer each month. But if you normally pay the $12 evening rate you only need to go to three movies a month to feel like you're at least breaking even. So with a 12 month contract I'm sure most people will average enough for them to make a profit (talking about normal people here, not indietalkers).

Plus I read somewhere that the average person goes to 6 movies a year - seems crazy to me (I've got over 700 ticket stubs from the past 15 years or so) but if that's the case the theaters may see this as a net gain if you can convince someone who might only go once a month to go 3-4x instead, so they may be willing to cut a better volume discount on the tickets.
 
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I think the way that it works is this:

Each screening of each movie happens regardless of how many people are in the audience. Weekday daytime screenings might have 5 people in an auditorium built for 200. So there's absolutely no harm in having people go to extra screenings, as they're not taking up space that could be used for people paying full price. But, even then, the cinemas are hardly making a profit on the cost of the ticket, because only a small fraction of that actually goes to them, so their big money-spinner is selling drinks, sweets, popcorn...etc. From experience of having the 'Unlimited' card in the UK, most of the people using the service go during the day (often as a break from work, about 80% are wearing suits) and they still buy the same amount of overpriced confectionary.

I don't think the scheme works like an 'All you can eat' buffet, where you're reliant on the average person not eating their monies worth. Unlimited and MoviePass screens are designed to try and get cinemas busier at times they're not normally busy, which costs the cinema nothing but allows them to sell food and drink.
 
I've been really curious about Movie Pass and meant to check it out. I'm glad SOMEONE has used and has good feedback. Definitely picking a couple up for me and my lady.
 
Well, their website is awful.

Give me the ability to read about your service without signing up for it or seaching microscopic links that take me to pages with very little information.

Or, kindly get off my monitor. I don't want to request an invite, and I don't want to parse the legalese of your T.O.S document to find out what it is you do and how it operates. Just give me that info in a format that will make me *want* to request an invite.

:no:

Could be a great service, but I'd never know because their site would just turn me away.
 
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CF.. its just another excuse to not be working on your own films. You know it and I know it.

Spend that two hours a day writing. Take that $35 a month and invest it in an acting class at the community college, get excited again!
 
Their website is awful, no doubt about that. And once you're signed up, the website doesn't get any better. They really want you to do everything through their mobile phone app.

The ways in which you guys mention that they might make money sound like reasonable educated guesses to me. Steve, it's funny that you mention gym memberships, because just like a gym membership, though you pay monthly, you are committed to an entire year. Perhaps a lot of people get excited about the prospect, but then don't actually use it.

knightly -- those services are really cool, but they're definitely a very different thing. This is more of a get-into-any-theater-free card.

Jayfry -- my one piece of advice (you'd learn it on your own, eventually, but perhaps I can save you 1 headache): The mobile app works just fine, once you've logged into it. Your login stays valid for one day, and then you have to re-login on any future days. The actual login process can take FOREVER. Okay, maybe it takes a couple minutes, but that feels like forever when you want to get into your movie. So, if you're gonna see a movie, log in to the app well before you get to the theater, and then use the app to "check in" at the theater. Much smoother that way.

And wheaty, yes yes, I hear you brother. Your sentiments are on-point and timely; I actually am in need of a little inspiration. However, I'm never gonna stop watching movies, sheeeiiiit! There are other activities I can cut down on. :)
 
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