Only a couple years ago, MoviePass was one of the biggest names in the industry. The company made unlimited theatrical viewing affordable to a lot of people and the service's subscriber base skyrocketed. However, from their high point, there was only one way to go, and MoviePass slowly began to bleed subscribers and money until the company officially announced it was closing down last week. However, at least one major company executive isn't ready to give up on MoviePass.
Ted Farnsworth, former head of MoviePass parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics says that he believes that MoviePass can still be salvaged, though he admits it's a process that will require time. According to Farsnworth...
We made the company a household name in two years and we disrupted the industry. We put hundreds of millions of dollars into the company, and I don’t want to just cut our losses. It’s something that we can reshape and rebuild. It will take time, but I think we can revitalize the whole brand
It's certainly true that MoviePass disrupted the industry. When the movie ticket subscription service dropped it's monthly cost to $9.95, millions of people signed up. Considering that even a single movie ticket costs that much or more in many places in the country, the service became an instant deal.
Initially, the service allowed users to see one movie a day, every day of the year. However, it soon became clear that, even with the influx of subscribers, MoviePass was having difficulty making money. Eventually the free-for-all version of MoviePass began to be slowly replaced by a version with more restrictions, which caused a slow but consistent drop in subscribers.
MoviePass tried to relaunch once but it was largely ineffective. Interestingly, Ted Farsnworth tells Variety that he doesn't believe the $9.95 price point was MoviePass's ultimate problem, but rather what he calls "consumer fraud." According to him...
We would have been fine if people hadn’t gamed the system, shared passwords, and engaged in consumer fraud.
Today, all three of the major U.S. theater chains, AMC, Regal, and Cinemark, have their own subscription services which a relaunched MoviePass would have to deal with. All of them seem to be meeting with success in one form or another. Regal's option even offers the same "unlimited" viewing that MoviePass once did. If MoviePass does come back, it will have to find a way to differentiate itself from the rest of the market.
MoviePass wasn't the only casualty of the subscription service war. Competitor Sinemia also closed down earlier this year.
Ted Farnsworth says that while he himself may not be the person to bring back MoviePass, he would have no problem investing money in a return if somebody else did...
Maybe I’m not the right one to revive it, but I’m willing to put in more money. I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t believe in it.
Do you think MoviePass has a chance being resurrected? Would you care if it was? Let us know in the poll down below.
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