MoviePass has officially brought back their famous unlimited plan, which allows users to to see one movie per day in theaters. Back in 2017, the subscription service (which has been around since 2011) rose to prominence by slicing their monthly fee to $9.95 per month. Unsurprisingly, they saw a significant increase in users, as many people looked to take advantage of the incredible deal. There was just one problem - MoviePass’ business model, which saw the company pay the full price of millions of movie tickets, was simply not sustainable for the longterm.
Nobody was all that shocked when the wheels fell off last summer, as MoviePass ran out of money, began blocking high-profile new releases from its app, and limiting the number of movies subscribers could see per month. Customers wasted no time jumping ship and seeking out alternatives, such as the AMC Stubs A-List. But even as MoviePass continues to suffer serious losses, they’ve been trying to stay afloat and now see the return of the unlimited plan.
Today, MoviePass announced a brand new setup for their unlimited plan, called MoviePass Uncapped. There are two payment options. One lets people pay $119.40 for the full year, while the other costs $14.95 on a month-to-month basis. These prices are available for a limited time only; once these offers are gone, MoviePass Uncapped will cost $19.95 a month.
In addition to having no restrictions on which movies users can see, the Uncapped plan allows people to purchase their tickets three hours prior to a screening. While this will certainly be appealing to many casual moviegoers, the overall perks still struggle to compare with similar services like the A-List. AMC’s answer to MoviePass gives viewers the ability to pre-order tickets online weeks in advance (which is handy for the major tentpoles like Avengers: Endgame) and lets people choose from 2D, 3D, and IMAX showings. MoviePass Uncapped, as it was before, limits people to only standard 2D. While it’s true the A-List has a “three movies per week” restriction, that doesn’t seem to have hurt their numbers since its introduction last year. It’ll be interesting to see if MoviePass evolves under its new structure.
MoviePass definitely has a long way to go to rebuild consumer trust, but it isn’t hard to envision a scenario where the Uncapped relaunch is successful. Not everyone lives near an AMC theater, and other major chains in the country have not introduced their own version of the A-List, meaning there remains a demand for a universal movie ticket subscription service. MoviePass can provide that to millions of viewers willing to go along for the ride. Time will tell if MoviePass can last this time, but fingers crossed they’re able to be viable moving forward.
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Source: MoviePass
