MoviePass, the service that would let subscribers watch one movie at a theater a day for a monthly fee, is set to relaunch this summer with a credit system that could potentially award users more credits if they watch ads.
As reported by Variety, MoviePass' credits would roll over month to month and could be traded or shared with other users. MoviePass founder Stacy Spikes also suggested that users could watch an ad to earn more credits and the user's phone camera could track their eyeballs to make sure they are actually paying attention.
While no pricing information was given, it appears this new version of MoviePass will offer different plans for users to choose from. Spikes, who was actually pushed out from MoviePass when it was acquired by Helios and Matheson in 2018, said that he and the team want to reimagine it as a cooperative and "rebuild MoviePass as a company that's built by its fan base."
MoviePass was founded in 2011, but it wasn't until 2017 that the company took the world by storm with its too-good-to-be-true $9.95/month plan that would let subscribers see one movie at a theater a day. That fee turned out to be unsustainable and MoviePass began introducing surge pricing and would even hide popular movies from appearing on the app and change users' passwords to prevent them from using it too much.
The service may have been one of the first to successfully implement this model, but the big chains - AMC, Cinemark, Alamo Drafthouse, and more - all released their own versions of MoviePass at different price points in turn.
In September 2019, MoviePass notified subscribers it would be shutting down and, in January 2020, Helios and Matheson filed for Chapter 7 liquidation.
“A lot of people lost money, a lot of people lost trust,” Spikes said. “There were a lot of people who were hurt and disappointed, and I was one of the people who was hurt and disappointed.”
Spikes hopes MoviePass can make a triumphant return, even despite the challenges the film industry are undergoing thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, as he believes the movie industry is "the greatest thing on Earth."
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
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As reported by Variety, MoviePass' credits would roll over month to month and could be traded or shared with other users. MoviePass founder Stacy Spikes also suggested that users could watch an ad to earn more credits and the user's phone camera could track their eyeballs to make sure they are actually paying attention.
While no pricing information was given, it appears this new version of MoviePass will offer different plans for users to choose from. Spikes, who was actually pushed out from MoviePass when it was acquired by Helios and Matheson in 2018, said that he and the team want to reimagine it as a cooperative and "rebuild MoviePass as a company that's built by its fan base."
MoviePass was founded in 2011, but it wasn't until 2017 that the company took the world by storm with its too-good-to-be-true $9.95/month plan that would let subscribers see one movie at a theater a day. That fee turned out to be unsustainable and MoviePass began introducing surge pricing and would even hide popular movies from appearing on the app and change users' passwords to prevent them from using it too much.
The service may have been one of the first to successfully implement this model, but the big chains - AMC, Cinemark, Alamo Drafthouse, and more - all released their own versions of MoviePass at different price points in turn.
In September 2019, MoviePass notified subscribers it would be shutting down and, in January 2020, Helios and Matheson filed for Chapter 7 liquidation.
“A lot of people lost money, a lot of people lost trust,” Spikes said. “There were a lot of people who were hurt and disappointed, and I was one of the people who was hurt and disappointed.”
Spikes hopes MoviePass can make a triumphant return, even despite the challenges the film industry are undergoing thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, as he believes the movie industry is "the greatest thing on Earth."
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Continue reading...