Making the Most of MoviePass: A Review
There is no doubt that MoviePass has been making waves in the film industry.
Over the past few months, the company began offering a $9.95/month subscription service that allows members to visit almost any movie theater and see one movie per day. If you aren't familiar with the service, there are a few restrictions, including that the tickets must be purchased the day of the movie and you can only see 2D movies (no 3D or IMAX showings). It does, at first, seem a bit too good to be true, but stay with me.
MoviePass reimburses the full price of the movie tickets to the theaters, so in the majority of markets, it loses money on every member who sees more than one movie a month. So far, the company plans to partner with independent film studios to promote their movies that otherwise moviegoers might pass up due to lack of interest. MoviePass is already successfully driving more traffic to theaters at a time when the industry can use the help.
The company has been around for a while, offering plans that up until August of last year, cost $50 a month for the same services. The company had several thousand subscribers, but it was not until Mitch Lowe, a former Netflix executive took over as CEO that the company started to make some headway. After dropping the price of the service, MoviePass has jumped from 20,000 subscribers to over 1.5 million in the months since. There are various reports about whether this business model is sustainable, and the company recently has had disagreements with AMC, one of the largest movie chains in the United States, prompting MoviePass to pull support from AMC's 10 largest theaters last week.
Despite the media circus that the service has spawned, the offer is very appealing. So much so that I signed myself and my wife up for the service about three weeks ago. I've not seen much on Steemit about the service, so I wanted to offer my thoughts on MoviePass having used the service for two weeks now.
Signing Up
The sign up process is very quick and straightforward. You create an account on MoviePass.com, input your credit card information, and you're set. The service operates via a debit MasterCard, which you will receive in the mail, so you won't be able to head to the theater right away. Since the subscriber volume has increased, some people have reported their debit cards taking around two weeks to arrive, and MoviePass sent an email to confirm this after I signed us up. However, in just 6 business days, I was surprised to find both of our cards in the mailbox! All that was left to do was download their mobile app to our phones and head to the theater.
If you are interested, here is the link to the full terms and conditions of the service.
Purchasing Tickets
Debit cards in hand, we drove to our local theater (MoviePass works with all theaters in our area, including a small local venue that offers second run movies, so it's likely that your local theater will accept the cards as well!). On the app, you select the theater you're going to, then the movie and show time you're planning to attend. Once you are within 100 yards of the theater (location services must be enabled), you can tap the "Check In" button, and you have 30 minutes to enter the theater and purchase your ticket!
At this point, things are fairly simple, as our local theater has ticket purchasing kiosks that make using the debit card easy. My wife and I each took a kiosk, selected seats beside of each other (our theater has reserved seating), swiped the debit cards, and in moments, we had our movie tickets!
Last weekend, we saw a movie on Saturday and Sunday, and this weekend, admittedly, we saw movies on Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon, because, why not?
Making the Most of MoviePass
MoviePass will undoubtedly drive more traffic to theaters. This may result in move people seeing lower profile movies, as well as increased concessions sales. I still have a problem paying $7 for popcorn, so we discovered that our local theater does not have any signs prohibiting outside food or drink, and so now we nonchalantly walk into the theater carrying cups full of water and gallon bags filled with popcorn that I've just popped at home. Before you try the same thing, each theater is different, so be sure to follow the rules on food and drink.
Our theater also runs a short app-based trivia game about 10 minutes before the start time of each movie. Hardly anyone plays the game, so my wife and I started playing every round, which has resulted in us winning several coupons, including arcade time at the theater (it has a bowling alley, arcade, and restaurant), so we've gotten a bit of added value out of our experience.
The only negative thing I have to say about visiting the theater so much is that we've seen the same ads and trailers almost every time, but if you can sit through those, MoviePass is a great value. We've been able to just take a chance on movies when we want to spend a night out, and since we normally see a movie each month anyway, the cost is about what we would pay regardless.
Final Thoughts
If you enjoy movies and the movie theater experience, I suggest giving MoviePass a try while it's around. Their CEO is confident that they will become profitable once reaching four million subscribers, but if that doesn't happen, you may as well take advantage of the service now!
Visiting the theater often has been enjoyable. Now, if we're looking for something to do on a weekend, we can go see a movie without worrying about paying $20+ each time. It's been a fun experience, and I would be happy to answer any questions anyone has about the service and using it so far.
For those of you interested, the movies we've seen over the past two weeks are Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, The Post, Paddington 2, The Greatest Showman, and The Commuter. I'd be happy to share my thoughts on any of those movies if you are interested!
If you'd like to give it a try, just head over to the MoviePass website to sign up today, and be sure to let me know what you think of the service!
Additionally, if you enjoy placing stock market bets, MoviePass is primarily owned by Helios & Matheson, which trades on the Nasdaq with the ticker HMNY. Could be worth looking into. Even more risky would be throwing money into theater stocks, most of which have been on a downturn for several years. MoviePass could breathe new life into their sales!
Thanks for stopping by!
this sounds fantastic!!!!! so its $9.95 per person? we would go every weekend!!! hahahaha and you're so right - it will completely drive people to the theatres in droves! AND allow a fighting chance for those movies that you're not willing to pay "theatre prices". On a side note - we also bring snacks to the movies. The other day, one of the employees asked to look inside my daughter's bag. (my daughter panicked for a moment hehehehe) The employee said - "and just so you know, we're not looking for candy. Everybody brings candy - it's fine. I'm just checking for weapons."
ha!!! how about that LOL
this sounds like a really great service and I will be suggesting it to the fam tonight :) thanks for the post!
Hey @dreemsteem! It was great hearing from you on PYPT today, so I appreciate you stopping by this blog!
Yes, it's $9.95/month per person! Definitely worth it to get on board right now. We like being able to just go see a movie without having to worry about spending $20.
It's good to know that I'm not the only one who brings snacks to the theater! Our theater does have medium popcorn for $2.50 on Tuesday nights, but on the weekend, that same size costs $7.25. Almost as much as the movie ticket. So much better to bring our own snacks. Glad the bag searching hasn't deterred you!
It's been a great service so far, so if you do subscribe, be sure to let me know how your experience is! Thanks again for stopping by!
I surely will!!!
And the bag searching... My daughter and hubby are rebels at heart... So I think they love the thrill!
But me??? Even though I KNOWWWW that they're not going to throw me out, I am such a rule-follower .. my heart starts pounding when I have to smuggle my contraband past the pimply-faced ticket boy (who couldn't care less about my hidden Snickers). Lolololol
I would make the worst spy, I tell you!!!
I'm also a rule follower, so my wife couldn't believe that I decided to just walk in with popcorn last weekend. haha I completely understand!
I'm laughing so hard!!! My husband will do the same!!! Walk in with Big Gulp drinks and just dare them to say something.... And I'm like MADAM! PLEASE DO NOT ARREST ME!!! I DO NOT KNOW THIS MAN!!
hahahaha so ridiculous!!!!!
And though they say they don't care... I don't REALLLLLY believe them. Because I WILL be the ONE person that they have to take into the back and frisk over some Twizzlers!!!
"Please don't sit me in the chair with the bright light, Sir!!! My retinas are still charred from peeking at the solar eclipse."
Again.... ANOTHER rule broken with dire consequences!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
It certainly seems like one of the most competitive bargains as far as movie-watching is concerned. Carrying your own snacks and beverages lends a homely touch to the offer and will appeal to everyone(except maybe those who have to prepare those snacks ha ha).
You have written a very detailed review which I hope will become the go-to article if people look for a review of Moviepass on the internet.
By the way, you've watched quite a few movies recently - how about writing a similar, detailed a review of some of them?
Hey @maxabit! Thanks for your comment.
So far, I've avoided doing movie reviews. I'm not really sure why. Perhaps I'll consider it now that I'm going to see more movies on a regular basis.
It's very nice to bring our own concessions. We had never really done that until we found out this theater is fine with it. Saves us quite a bit of cash, even though it involves extra effort beforehand. We make popcorn frequently anyway, so it's not too much of an inconvenience.
Thanks for your kind words about the review. I always enjoy making people aware of fun services like this that they can potentially enjoy.
My wife and I first heard about it when it was fifty dollars. We belong to a movie group and fifty was just about break even money for us back then because less theaters accepted it. We jumped in during the price drop in August.
I hear what you are saying about the ads and the trailers. I am sooooo tired of the Chevy commercial on the interstate and the geico lost my keys sketch. And I know most of the trailers by heart.
I have seen over fifty films since August. I like the history function in the app that shows all of the films you have seen.
When they started the annual subscription we switched. 89 dollars per year. But it took a few months for them to sort it out. It just started this month. We signed up in October I think.
For us, it's the Chevy commercial with the Traverse and the people (not actors, of course) somehow don't notice that there are people in the vehicle while they're walking around it (must be some illegal window tint). I also am tired of the Geico ad you mentioned. The worst offenders are the local ads, though. haha
Anyhow, good to know there's someone else taking advantage of it! Fifty movies seems like a lot, but then again, at the rate we're going, we'll be right there with you soon. I also like the viewing history feature.
Thanks for your comment!
Yeah. Seen that commercial too. At some Hollywood hills mansion no less.
It's quite ridiculous. My wife and I find something else wrong with it every time we see it. The worst is when the guy says "This looks better than 99% of other SUVs!" Clearly he's an expert on every other SUV available in the US automobile market. smh....
I heard about this on the news but I rarely have time for the theatre and I also have a bad habit of falling asleep in one too...
A movie has to be extremely boring for me to fall asleep, but they do have some comfy chairs now, so I won't rule it out completely! haha thanks for taking the time to read this post!
so to get it because we don't have thing like that in my country, moviepass is like big cinema booking company that covers many different movies and cinemas through the country and in more affordable prices than paying for the movie in cinema? ( that confused me a bit)
Also is it only a booking company,site and app or you can watch movies online in it?
MoviePass is a service you can subscribe to, so in essence, yes. It's a service that you can use to book tickets. They pay for the tickets each time, so you as the subscriber only pay the monthly fee to them.
I pay $9.95 per month to MoviePass and I can go see one movie per day at no additional cost.
Right now, they are only a booking service. They don't have any sort of streaming capabilities. They are more interested in using the viewing habits of users from an advertising point of view.
I hope that helped clear things up. Let me know if it didn't.
Wow, I've never heard of this but it sounds amazing! I'll keep my fingers crossed it comes here to the UK! There needs to be a big change otherwise I wonder where movie theatres will be in a few years time!
It's interesting to think about where things will go. I'm sure there are a lot of people like you who want to see this service appear in other countries. I suppose only time will tell!
Yep! I imagine it will just come down to the economics!
WOW that is a good deal for people who like to catch a lot of movies i theatres I must mention to my stepson ( I hate using that term he’s my best mate actually LOL) as he and his wife love catching the new movies in the theatres but the cost sometimes holds them back this is a good deal for them.
For a couple of reasons my wife and I dont go tot he movies at all but which this had been around when we did
It can definitely be a good deal, especially for people who already go. We're going to take advantage of it now since we don't have kids, and it's fairly easy for us to go since the theater isn't far.
I hope your best mate enjoys the service if he signs up. You'll have to let me know! Thanks for your comment!
Unfortunatly there local theatre is one of the AMC ones not included on the site :(
But maybe the two companies can work out there issues and it will be available in the future
Oh that is unfortunate. Most people think this is MoviePass trying to see how far they can push AMC to see if they can reconcile. For the sake of your friend, I hope they do.
From what I read it does seem that that is the case
Sounds like an absolute steal!
A ticket over here in the UK is usually £10 which is ridiculous. If I had the chance to watch a movie a day at my theater I'd definitely be going a couple times a week at least.
Also loved your ziploc popcorn stash. Now that's keeping it authetic!
Yes, I'm sure someone will expand this idea to other countries, eventually. The movie theater companies here in the US are still trying to figure out whether they like it or not. It's a conundrum for them since it drives traffic to their establishments up, but they lose some of the control of setting prices if they give in to MoviePass's advertising plan.
Oh well, I'll still keep bringing my popcorn to the theater in a ziploc! haha Glad you enjoyed the post!
As someone that goes to the movie theater quite often back in the day I wish I would have known about this sooner! Thanks for sharing. May not take advantage of it because we have a baby on the way, but definitely towards the end of the year this is definitely something we may take advantage of.
I've been surprised that more people haven't heard about it! I suppose I've been following it for a while, and I'm glad I decided to sign up. Perhaps you'll get to use it in the future! Thanks for stopping by!
O me and my wife love going to the movies, but with a newborn on the way it kind of limits the amount we will be able to go in the next 6 - 9 months. I'd be surprised if this time next year we aren't signed up for it if it's still around as we used to go to the movies every couple of weeks.
Nice! Well I wish you and your wife the best with the birth of your child! That's very exciting. You'll have to keep me updated if you do decide to subscribe!
Thanks for sharing this. I know some people that would definitely be interested. My only hesitation is seeing the same ads over and over again! That gets yucky real quick. Maybe I'll just use that time to go to the bathroom, get candy, or play a claw game at the arcade.
Thanks for the comment! Yes, the ads are quite annoying, but I usually will pull things up on my phone to look at or, like you said, take the time to go to the restroom. It's a small price to pay for being able to see movies at a fraction of the cost, though.
True @ethandsmith, it's a small price to pay. By the way, I thought of your picture with the popcorn inside of a bag today. Used a shard cheese today and thought it would be delicious to grade ontop if popcorn in a bag for a movie. 😊
I prefer my popcorn buttered and salted, but I can see how adding some cheese would be good, too. haha Perhaps you can take inspiration from my photo!