One of the biggest stories in the business and entertainment world during the second half of 2017 was the rise of MoviePass. The company had already been around for a few years at that point. However, the movie subscription service exploded in popularity after they were bought by a company called Helios and Matheson. The new owners introduced a new plan that would allow a person to pay $10 a month and see one movie every day. Obviously, you do not need to be a genius to figure out that this is a business model that cannot be sustained. This is because the average price of a regular movie in most cities is $10.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, MoviePass started to hemorrhage money. This resulted in the app going offline because MoviePass was unable to pay their creditors. They needed to take out large loans to stay afloat. Inevitably, a slew of changes to the rules of the service eventually led to the elimination of the one movie every day plan. Restrictions were eventually put in place that limited people to a maximum of three movies each week. The price was also raised to $15 each month. This drove many people away from the service.
MoviePass has managed to hang around for the past 18 months, despite the mass exodus of customers. The company has now announced a return of the plan that will allow people to see one movie each day for $10 a month. However, MoviePass is imposing a lot more restrictions than it did before. For example, a person will need to pay for a year’s worth of the service in advance. Therefore, you will need to cough up $120 before you can start using the service. Also, you will not be able to use your MoviePass subscription to see any 3-D films. The plan is only good for 2-D movies. People who do not want to pay for one year in advance will not be entitled to the $10 per month price. Monthly customers will need to pay $15 each month.
The $120 for the entire year is also a limited time offer. MoviePass has said the deal will end soon. At that point, the monthly fee will be increased to $20. The company’s struggles during 2018 were well chronicled by show business and financial publications. It remains to be seen if these changes will help their bottom line.
Dil Bole Oberoi
