MoviePass, the Netflix-style movie theater subscription service, slashes price to $9.95...

Shawn Knight

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Rising costs are among the many factors that have contributed to a decline in movie theater attendance in recent years. It’s one pain point that MoviePass is looking to eliminate with an offer that may be too good for many to pass up.

MoviePass is a relatively obscure service that’s perhaps best described as a Netflix-style movie theater subscription service. Pricing up to this point hasn’t really made it relevant but that’s changing on Tuesday as the company is overhauling its offering.

MoviePass will now charge just $9.95 per month (and there's also a free trial option). For that price, you’ll be able to get in to one showing per day at any theater in the US that accepts debit cards (pretty much all of them). The only glaring “catch” is that a subscription excludes 3D and IMAX screenings. There are no blackout dates.

MoviePass will, according to the publication, pay theaters full price for tickets out of the money it earns.

The new strategy was seemingly spurred by the sale of a majority stake in the company to Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc.

The only way this makes sense (at least, on the surface) is if people subscribe then forget to use it for months on end. According to Helios and Matheson CEO Ted Farnsworth, however, there are other revenue streams planned.

The executive notes that they hope to build a large customer base and collect data on viewing behaviors – information that could be sold to advertisers and used for marketing purposes. Farnsworth said it’s no different than Facebook or Google in that respect.

Would you be willing to drop $10 per month in exchange for being able to walk into a theater once a day and watch whatever you want? Feel free to discuss in the comments section below.

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The best assumption I have is the loss of Disney features and their attempt to hang on to their current subscribers .... but that is a pure assumption .... although rumor has it that Yosemite Sam was spotted cleaning up and reloading his six guns ......
 
On the surface, it doesn't seem to make a lot of economic sense: at $10 a month, they would only be bringing in enough to cover the cost of 1 movie per subscriber per month.

However, I can see some potential areas that people may not consider:

1. This is a per-person price. That means that a couple would have to pay for two memberships; a family of 5 would have to pay for five memberships to get the benefit.
2. $10 might be an average price for a movie ticket. But even at the local AMC, I generally spend a lot less than that per ticket because I usually prefer to go to matinee screenings. Those are usually $5-6 a ticket. So I'd have to go to 2 screenings a month just to pay for the membership. And even some theaters are still under $10 a showing -- some theaters still "only" charge $8 a ticket for evening non-3D/non-IMAX screenings. And that's just "first-run" theaters. There are still "second-run" theaters that don't get the movie releases until a) the DVD becomes available at Redbox, b) the movie is available on Amazon (Prime or not) and/or Netflix, or c) available on both. Sure, it's not the same as watching in the theater, but because the other options are available they only charge maybe $2 to $2.50 a ticket (less for matinee). That means you'd need to go to 4 or 5 screenings a month at that theater to make it worth the monthly fee.
3. They're banking on most people not being filmophiles. Let's face it: Hollywood may release a lot of films in theaters each year (3-5 on average a week, more during the summer blockbuster & holiday seasons), but there's only a really small handful of people that even see half of those movies in the theaters. I love watching movies, & I still love watching them in the theater...but I'm also really, really picky about what movies I'll pay money to see. And I'm not the type to go back & watch a movie in the theater a 2nd time (let a lone more times), because a) I've already seen it in the theater, & b) if it's so good that I can watch it over & over again, I'm going to buy it when it comes out on DVD anyway.
 
What kill it for me is the dumb *** that have no manner put their feet up even if it knock your head etc..
 
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