MoviePass aims to be the Netflix of movie going -- but with one big difference
A revitalization of the movie theatre industry could be underway, thanks to a new movie subscription plan created by MoviePass that offers consumers a monthly flat rate to see new films.
For $9.95 a month, consumers can purchase a MoviePass and watch one movie per day in theatres for the entire month.
“People really do want to see movies more often,” MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo of Mornings with Maria. “The problem is that the price and risk of seeing a bad movie is high. So people tend to wait until it comes out on video, or streaming services.”
Lowe, who co-founded Netflix, said that the lack of incremental cost is what draws people to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. One of the byproducts of Netflix was that people began watching films they may not have paid to see.
But with the new pass plan, Lowe said he hopes to “make it easy” for consumers to go back to the movies every day.
Already, MoviePass consumers see double the amount of films -- most of which earn under $20 million in the box office -- once they join the service, Lowe said.
About 90 percent of movie theatres will be joining the new subscription service, including AMC, Regal and Cinemark. The plan will be applicable to “just about every” movie, with the exception of 3D and IMAX, Lowe said.
Of the current MoviePass subscribers, about 75 percent are millennials, which tend to be the type of clientele theatres are losing, according to Helios and Matheson Analytics Chairman Ted Farnsworth, who bought a majority stake in MoviePass.
“It’s like we’re doing social reengineering,” he said. “We’re taking people back to the theatre.”