The failed movie subscription service will relaunch with monthly pricing tiers based on the user’s location.
The story of MoviePass’ rise—and eventual deep, plummeting fall—left filmgoers on a budget with broken hearts all over the world. For two years, seeing an unlimited number of movies for $10 a month was decadent…until the service’s parent company went bankrupt and shut down in 2019. The company has finally revealed its mighty return after being bought back by co-founder Stacey Spikes in November 2021.
According to Variety, the new MoviePass service will go into beta on Labor Day. However, there is a catch: you must join a waitlist to gain access to all of those movies. You can sign up for MoviePass’ waitlist starting this Thursday at 9 a.m. ET. The application period is five days long, and those selected will be notified on September 5.
Furthermore, depending on where you live, the new subscription pricing tier may be more expensive. According to Business Insider, monthly prices can range from $10 to $20 to $30 per month, with higher prices likely for those in major cities such as New York or Los Angeles, where individual tickets can be quite expensive.
Another new feature is the ability to pay for your ticket with credits, with each plan option providing a different amount of credits to the user for movies to see each month. The days of unlimited movies per month are over, as theatres will now be able to determine how many credits each ticket will cost. This option appears to be based on whether you’re seeing a movie during a slow period (like a midweek showing) versus a Friday night premiere, which makes financial sense but hurts if you remember the old MoviePass’s unlimited access.
There are still many unknowns about the new service, such as whether it will include first-run movies and which theatres will be included. According to Variety, MoviePass has partnered with 25% of the country’s movie theatres, but there is no word on whether this includes major chains like AMC Theaters or Cinemark.
Despite the hype, the new MoviePass will face challenges. With other theatre chains now offering their own versions of reward subscriptions, MoviePass 2.0 must contend with competition while also striking a balance between making a profit as a company and keeping their users satisfied with higher-priced plans.
