Calling all Millennials! By now you’ve probably seen many Facebook posts and articles talking about MoviePass, the Netflix of movie theaters. If you’re a movie lover who is strapped for cash, you need to jump on the MoviePass bandwagon.
What is MoviePass?
MoviePass was founded in 2011 and was originally designed as a voucher system. Customers could print a voucher at their house and exchange it at participating cinemas to see a movie. The downside to this voucher system was that it was time-consuming and inefficient. So a year later, after many complaints, the company launched a mobile app and prepaid card which could be used at any theater that accepted major credit cards.
Fast forward to 2016, founding Netflix team member and former President and COO of Redbox, Mitch Lowe was named CEO of MoviePass. Since his takeover in 2016, Lowe has tried various pricing models ranging from $20 per month to $100 per month for unlimited movie screenings. Just recently, he slashed prices to $9.95 per month and customers are jumping on board to grab their pass before prices rise.
Which Theaters Can I go to?
According to the company’s website, the pass is accepted at 4,000 theaters or about 91% of theaters in the country. After you subscribe to the service you can see which of your local theaters accept the pass. Although, the fact that you aren’t able to see a list of local theaters before you pay for the monthly subscription has many people upset.
One Reddit user is working to help potential customers find their local theaters by creating a searchable database. However, due to the high volume of people trying to this free resource, the site is often running slow and crashing.
Paying for the Monthly Subscription
The great benefit of using MoviePass is that there is not a long commitment. You don’t need to sign a yearly contract and there are no early termination fees. In fact, aside from the $9.95 price, the second greatest benefit is that you can cancel at any time.
AMC Controversy
MoviePass is revolutionizing the film industry. With remarkably low prices and easy to use service, theaters should expect to see more traffic in the upcoming months. Unfortunately, not all movie theaters are happy with the monthly subscription service. In fact, AMC has threatened to sue the company. The conflict between AMC and MoviePass has been longstanding since its founding in 2011. While you can still use your Moviepass card at AMC theaters, AMC is looking into ways to prevent customers from using the service.
As for now, we’ll just have to sit back, grab a bucket of popcorn, and see how this story unfolds. Plus, check out my MoviePass experience, to hear what I think of using the affordable monthly subscription.