MoviePass blocks access to select AMC theaters

[Polycount]

MoviePass exploded in popularity over the holidays, reaching over one million concurrent subscribers in December. With a $9.95 monthly subscription fee, that adds up to be a pretty nice chunk of change for the company.

For the unaware, MoviePass is a service that allows subscribers to watch as many movies as they'd like in theaters for a single monthly fee, making it ideal for weekly or even daily moviegoers. There's only two caveats of note: you can't see the same movie twice and you can only watch one movie per day.

Due to MoviePass' recently popularity surge, the company has struggled to keep up with demand for their service. To help offset some of their growing costs, the company has announced plans to invest in film creation to boost revenue.

Theater executives have come out against the service, calling it "unsustainable." This belief might prove true if MoviePass' latest decision is anything to go by - many MoviePass subscribers have reportedly found that their service debit cards no longer work at a "small handful" of AMC theaters, including some of the most popular locations.

MoviePass took to Twitter to respond to customer complaints but their statements haven't shed much light on their reasoning:

A small handful of theaters are no longer available on our platform. The theater you’re referring to seems to be affected by this. As we continue to strive for mutually-beneficial relationships with theaters, the list of theaters we work with is subject to change.

— MoviePass (@MoviePass) January 26, 2018

Some MoviePass subscribers, suspecting foul play on the part of theaters, approached AMC about the situation. However, the theater chain claimed they haven't been restricting the use of MoviePass in any way:

Some of our guests say MoviePass may be blocking the use of their service at a handful of AMC locations. AMC has not restricted MoviePass acceptance at our theatres, nor have we heard from MoviePass about this. MoviePass customers should contact MoviePass for clarification.

— AMC Guest Services (@AMCHelps) January 25, 2018 

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/72957-moviepass-blocks-access-select-amc-theaters.html

 

[Yosip]

I cant help but imagine that some people are sharing movie pass with friends to all go so movies, so you have accounts seeing the same movie 15 days in a row. Id imagine thats why certain ones are getting shut down. Shame they couldnt find a better solution.

Did you even read article?

 

[mctommy]

I cant help but imagine that some people are sharing movie pass with friends to all go so movies, so you have accounts seeing the same movie 15 days in a row. Id imagine thats why certain ones are getting shut down. Shame they couldnt find a better solution.

Did you even read article?

Im sorry I missed the half line where it says you cant see the same movie twice. The system is still easily abuseable, unsustainable, and shared among friends.

I think you failed to understand the moviepass business model which was never to make money in the first place. Moviepass loses money as soon as someone goes and watches 1 movie per month because they pay regular price (think of it as a debit card for movie theaters). Their long term plan was to sell the moviegoers viewing habit (long term).

In short, it doesn't need abuseable nor being able to share among friends, it was never sustainable from the beginning.

 

[lostinlodos]

The service is an experiment in data mining.
On the flip side there’s the rare go users that buy in at 9.99 to not pay $15, $18, $20 on a one off.

I bought into it in December. And have yet to use it once. I haven’t found a move worth seeing, at a time I could go. Granted I’m not the norm, anything that wins awards on tv award shows is unlikely to be of any interest to me, in the first place.
But I’m not —quite— ready to write it off, maybe something will pop up worth spending two hours of my life on.

 

[oldikes]

I cant help but imagine that some people are sharing movie pass with friends to all go so movies, so you have accounts seeing the same movie 15 days in a row. Id imagine thats why certain ones are getting shut down. Shame they couldnt find a better solution.

Did you even read article?

Im sorry I missed the half line where it says you cant see the same movie twice. The system is still easily abuseable, unsustainable, and shared among friends.

I think you failed to understand the moviepass business model which was never to make money in the first place. Moviepass loses money as soon as someone goes and watches 1 movie per month because they pay regular price (think of it as a debit card for movie theaters). Their long term plan was to sell the moviegoers viewing habit (long term).

In short, it doesn't need abuseable nor being able to share among friends, it was never sustainable from the beginning.

I didnt fail to understand at all. Theres a big difference between losing money short run, and losing a metric ton of your cash short term, to the point where its a detriment to your expansion or monitization plans. I don't see any goodreason for moviepass to pull out of these super popular theatres unless they are absolutely guzzling cash. Moviepass hasnt even begun their plan of selling data yet.

 

[matrix86]

I wouldn't be surprised if my local AMC has been denying this. They just recently started doing some serious BS with their ticket prices. It used to be one flat rate of $12 for a ticket. Now, they charge more for big blockbuster movies. My wife took her brother to go see the newest Star Wars movie and the theater was charging $18 per ticket due to the movie's popularity.

So yeah, wouldn't put it past them to be sneakily blocking moviepass at that location.

 

[lostinlodos]

...$12 for a ticket. Now, they charge more for big blockbuster movies. My wife took her brother to go see the newest Star Wars movie and the theater was charging $18 per ticket due to the movie's popularity.So yeah, wouldn't put it past them to be sneakily blocking moviepass at that location.

I don’t think it’s AMC blocking MoviePass. I think it’s something in the MoviePass system software choking on the price of some films. Remember AMC is being paid, full price, either by your pocket or by MoviePass. They’ve no reason to stop you from using MoviePass at all.

 

[mctommy]

The service is an experiment in data mining.
On the flip side there’s the rare go users that buy in at 9.99 to not pay $15, $18, $20 on a one off.

I bought into it in December. And have yet to use it once. I haven’t found a move worth seeing, at a time I could go. Granted I’m not the norm, anything that wins awards on tv award shows is unlikely to be of any interest to me, in the first place.
But I’m not —quite— ready to write it off, maybe something will pop up worth spending two hours of my life on.

You are indeed unique and definitely not the norm. I have 2 sets of friends with different circumstances and both sets go anywhere between twice a month to once or twice a week. The 1 couple that goes once or twice a week just see it as entertainment and watch almost every movie.

I don’t think it’s AMC blocking MoviePass. I think it’s something in the MoviePass system software choking on the price of some films. Remember AMC is being paid, full price, either by your pocket or by MoviePass. They’ve no reason to stop you from using MoviePass at all.

It's moviepass choosing to block the theaters that they are losing the most money on = more popular locations