Like most Silicon Valley startups, MoviePass began its business with an improbable promise: let everyone watch as many movies they want for a flat monthly fee; a Netflix for the moviegoing crowd.
But the watch-till-you-drop allure could only go on for so long without leaving the company bankrupt. A typical film costs around $15. A MoviePass subscription goes for much less. Do the math. No way MoviePass wasn't losing money as it lured in more crowds, especially when most of them were watching daily.
What MoviePass Looks Like Now
Fast forward to present time, and MoviePass is now nearing that stage familiar to all Silicon Valley projects whose exuberant propositions went limp within months, where it's now flip-flopping like a fish out of water.
To remain afloat, MoviePass has implemented a number of changes, none of which has sat well with its once loyal and happy audience. That all comes together via its new subscriber plan, where users are now resigned to seeing just three films a month for the same $10 subscription price, a radical downgrade from the all-you-can-watch model that attracted customers in the first place.
As if that isn't bad enough, the new plan also throws in unexpected restrictions on top of that. As per an email gradually rolling out to MoviePass subscribers, the company says it will curate a daily shortlist of films each day that can be watched.
"For the time being, we will be limiting the films and showtimes that are available to members each day," according to the email. "During this transition period, MoviePass will offer up to six films to choose from daily, including a selection of major studio first-run films and independent releases."
MoviePass Rolls Out New Subscriber Plan
In other words, not only are subscribers limited to watching three movies a month, but their film choices are also cut short. Plus, MoviePass says "actual availability [of films] will change daily," and "showtime availability may be limited depending on the popularity of those films on the app that particular day."
Factor in reports of users getting errors when trying to get movie tickets, and certain films being snipped off the lineup, and MoviePass suddenly doesn't sound very appealing anymore.
While frustrating, it's no surprise MoviePass can't seem to find a definite recourse to save its company and attempt to make it profitable. Its business model was built on the impossible task of letting users watch as many movies they wanted, and perhaps it knew it will lose some money in the process, but not this much.
Still, with everything mentioned above — and the fact that its recent changes, such as Uber-style surge pricing for certain films, blocking big-budget movies, and blacklisting theaters without forewarning, have angered customers — MoviePass says good things are on the horizon.
"We'll have some exciting updates on additional features and service offerings — that will bring greater value to you as a member — in the near future."
