It hasn't been a very good weekend for MoviePass. The movie ticket subscription service ran out of money on Thursday and had to borrow an emergency $5 million from the hedge fund Hudson Bay. That coupled with the introduction of surge pricing and other limitations on the service has lead to growing displeasure among customers who joined with the promise of seeing one movie a day for a monthly fee. Well, users probably weren't any happier to learn that MoviePass wasn't letting them see the biggest release of the weekend, Mission: Impossible - Fallout.
This weekend saw the release of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, a movie that critics have praised and is an all-around awesome action movie. However, MoviePass users are having a challenge seeing the film through the service. Those users intending to see the movie this weekend found that MoviePass wasn't even giving them a choice to see Fallout. The movie doesn't appear under New Releases in the MoviePass app, and when looking at local theater times, Fallout is grayed out and unable to be clicked. (As a MoviePass user, I can confirm this).
Upon discovering this, users took to Twitter to voice their complaints and MoviePass has responded to comments. However, they don't list a specific reason for why Fallout is unavailable and only promise that it will be available at "some point" during its theatrical run.
Additionally, customers reported last night that they were having issues checking in with their Moviepass card. This is only the latest spot of trouble for MoviePass, which has taken hits recently. Critics of the service have long said that it isn't a financially stable business model and while the MoviePass brass has argued that point, the company has taken measures to limit its usability. For instance, users can only see a movie once through MoviePass, and the service introduced a surge pricing feature that forces customers to pay more for blockbuster movies during certain showings. Users need to verify that they saw a film by taking a picture of their ticket before using the app again.
It should also be noted that MoviePass has increased competition since it first lowered its pricing model to just $9.95 a month. AMC unveiled its A-List program, which is pricier at $19.95 a month and allows users to see three movies a week, including IMAX, Dolby Cinema, and 3D movies.
MoviePass has certainly had its troubles, and while the sustainability is open to question, it is a good idea for getting people to see more movies. We'll all just have to wait and see what happens with MoviePass in the future. Stick with CinemaBlend, and we'll be sure to keep you updated with new information as soon as it becomes available.
