Remember MoviePass? Oh, how times have changed. Just a couple years ago, MoviePass subscribers had the power to see one movie a day in theaters for just $10 a month. But as the business model became more popular, some wrinkles in MoviePass were made apparent and the ticketing service closed in the fall of 2019. Earlier this week, however we were talking about the service again following a mysterious countdown.
On Tuesday, MoviePass rumors ran rampant after a website called moviepass.ventures had cinephiles taking notice. The website donned the company’s logo, along with the words “the movie is about to start” and a countdown clock pointing to March 22. MoviePass.com on the other hand has remained unchanged, featuring a written notice from CEO Mitch Lowe informing fans of the service’s cancellation. So what’s going on?
The internet may have figured it out. One Twitter user did some digging and seems to have found out that the rumored MoviePass return is all a hoax. Check out the post:
What the person found is a Discord server called MoviePass Club that apparently had conversations about faking a MoviePass 2.0 launch in the spirit of April Fool’s Day in order to boost their channel’s user base. In the screenshots of the Discord server, the members of the chat talk about pulling the prank, even discussing plans to create a fake website and all.
We cannot confirm that moviepass.ventures is the work of this Discord chat, but it’s more likely than not. Variety previously found out the new website was anonymously registered back in early February and contacted the ticketing service’s CEO Mitch Lowe, who said this:
I have no idea. It has nothing to do with me.
There you have it. It seems like MoviePass fans were just messing around, perhaps trying to manifest the service back into the zeitgeist as more theaters across the country begin to open their doors again. But I guess we’ll know for sure on March 22 when the countdown reaches zero. Although this MoviePass prank may have been spoiled too early, the website creator was somewhat successful in getting us to wonder, is MoviePass coming back?
Although MoviePass may be long gone, the subscription service did greatly affect the movie industry. Just as the subscription service was seeing itself out after financial struggles and a lot of unhappy customers toward the end, AMC Theatres launched a successful business model in its stead. AMC Stubs allows its subscribers to watch three movies a week in theaters for $20 a month. Other services have also benefited from MoviePass’ failed experiment.
Hey, maybe someday MoviePass will rise again! Until then, check out all the movies coming up this year here on CinemaBlend.
