Moviepass Rolls Back Changes Adds Limit
Well the story of Moviepass has been quite the interesting one this year. The service is actually several years old but got onto everyone’s radar when they began offering unlimited movies for only $9.95 per month last year. Great deal right?
Of course it was and the company began bleeding money. Then, they enacted some changes. First they limited people to seeing the same movie once and required users to actually upload their ticket stubs. Not a huge deal for most people.
Next, they announced so called surge pricing. Popular new release movies would cost more. Then, they ran out of cash and announced that some popular movies wouldn’t be available at all. Finally, last week they announced a price increased to $14.95 per month. A lot of changes, but now they have backtracked.
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Upcoming Changes
Today the company announced the following changes as of August 15, 2018:
- The monthly price of $9.95 will remain the same. It will no longer increase to $14.95
- Surge pricing will go away
- Users will be limited to seeing only 3 movies per month and get discounts on additional movies
- Ticket verification will go away
The company claims 85% of MoviePass users only use their pass three times or less per month and they say this will have a minimal impact on customers. In their press release they even go on to say that those other 15% are causing all of the company’s financial issues.
“All along, we’ve known that we need to invest heavily to prove our business model and bring enough subscribers into the business to truly understand their usage patterns and allow us to leverage ancillary revenue opportunities,” said Ted Farnsworth, Chairman and CEO of HMNY. “However, one year and 3 million plus members later, it has become clear that a small number — only 15 percent — of the subscriber base has been stressing the system. We believe this new business model will immediately reduce our burn so we can refocus our efforts where they belong: making a permanent and positive change in this industry by creating an amazing theater-going experience and building a company that continues to benefit our nationwide community.”
As a reminder, the company recently did a reverse 250-1 stock split to try to prevent themselves from getting de-listed on the market. Thus far it has failed. Look how far the stock has fallen when factoring in the split.
Will This Work?
They have reversed course on a lot and have seemingly implemented a much more sustainable business model. I can only guess that they are actively seeking outside funding and that these changes will help them get that. They are still paying full price for tickets which means even a single ticket can lose them money, but at least they are eliminating those people who were overusing the program.
What are your thoughts? Will this complete overhaul be enough to save the company? Let us know in the comments!
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FYI, I bought my Moviepass subscription on Costco.com – it was an $89.99 voucher for a year of Moviepass. I purchased from Costco in December 2017, activated in late January 2018, and just called and requested a partial refund for the ~6 months remaining in my subscription. The rep I talked to said they were aware of the issues and were processing full refunds, not partial. Now that’s customer service.
My husband and I have annual passes and are pretty disappointed. At this moment, if I decide to go to the movies today I can only choose between two movies ….. really? We will not be renewing our passes.
Same here. I already cancelled mine. The two movies you can see aren’t even worth seeing in my opinion. I can’t even see Mission: Impossible. Very disappointed in this service.
Moviepass will go broke. They do not have a pathway to profitability. I have to watch 1 or 2 adds to watch a 1 minute youtube video. Imagine the revenue they could have earned by making their 5 million user watch an advertisement before you checked into a movie. Moviepass is a stock scam.
I don’t get it. Only 3 movies a month? Sorry, but that doesn’t really save me all that much with all the hassle. AMC has 3 movies a week for $19.99. Plus I can reserve seats online. Their drawback is you have to go to only AMC theatres. Ours is pretty crummy. True, most of the time we only see about 3 movies a month. But why didn’t they make it 4?
Wonder what the rules will be next week?
It seems to change by the hour…
Latest email claims that you can still go to first-run movies, but NOT all of them… “there will be some exceptions…”
This is not a workable business model… We need to know what we are paying for UP FRONT, not at the time we head to the movie theater…
Cannot see me continuing beyond this month at this point…
If three per month keeps them alive, that’s great! I like any change that benefits people who don’t abuse the system. I feel the same way about gift card limitations, 5/24 Chase restrictions, and other reasonable measures that maintain benefits for the average Joe.
What do you mean abuse the system? Moviepass promoted 1 movie per day. So if you chose to watch 30 movies in a month you were not abusing the system. If I purchase a meal plane at Disney World that allows 3 meals a day – am I abusing it if i eat all 3 meals? The problem with Moviepass is they never has a real business plan and even if you just watch 1 movie a month they will eventually go broke.
This.
Will blockbusters still be blocked in opening weeks?
What is not clear is if the annual purchasers will be blocked from the blockbusters until moved to this plan.
I’m sure they haven’t even thought of it. Hopefully annual purchasers will get the best of both worlds until their renewal date.
I fall into the 15% category but….I’m ok with the new plan. Still better than paying out of pocket for 3 movies.
By the time I comment on a policy they change it and come up with an entirely new plan.
For this iteration, I’ll facetiously ask: Instead of canceling the photo ticket verification, keep it going and let me see 5 movies per month instead of 3. Maybe we can strike some kind of deal.