Will MoviePass 2.0 Return the Service To Its Former Glory?
Circa 2017… Zoom in on a young naive boy (26-year-old man) looking for any way to support his movie watching habits and reminiscing on how he used to have it. A hobby of watching movies bloomed around 6 years earlier and many of the resources he had for seeing movies at a movie theater were dwindling. Partially dwindling because of more and more distractions. Streaming services were in full bloom with their own original content. Massive amounts of YouTube videos that analyze any sector of film culture you can think of. And partially waning because his privileged circumstances of having his mom give him a modest amount of spending money each month while in college vanished upon graduating and finding a low-paying full-time job so that he could move out of his childhood home.
*Back to first person* Out of necessity, I ran to streaming services and YouTube. The conversation about film became my addiction. My temperaments led me down rabbit holes that were either fan theories for upcoming massive franchise releases or Oscar coverage when the season struck. My algorithm, having some type of movie on constantly, and a slow-growing intimate film community made me long for the movie theater experience again. During the daily ritual of watching Schmoes Know and Collider Movie Talk on YouTube in 2017, the news about a thing called MoviePass began to make the rounds. A fully formed service for years before this moment, but the company unexpectedly began to offer their service for $9.95/month. What did that low price give you? The opportunity to see one movie a day, every day, for free. The catch is that you could not reserve your seat and you had to be within a close distance to the movie theater to reserve your ticket. This all was too good to be true, right? That question and skepticism did not stop me, though. Like many other film lovers, I jumped at this opportunity. Around the same time I began to discover “screening websites” that most major studios had. You would enter in an email and if they were screening a movie near you, they would email you about it, and if you saw it fast enough you could get up to two tickets for a yet-to-be-released movie. This and MoviePass together led to the best 18 months of movie theater going that I have ever had and will probably ever have again.
I made enough money to support this small financial commitment and had the time that being a young single person provided. What ensued through mid-2018 was a blur while at the same time sketching vivid memories that I will never forget. Completely shielding myself from the question I asked earlier, “is this all too good to be true?” Sadly, it was. What was being able to see one movie a day with no restrictions turned into restricted access to popular movies, restrictions to theaters, and an app that really couldn’t handle their massive amount of demand. So what was the final result of all of this? This harmonious dream drove a wedge into the whole industry. It heightened tensions in the industry from every possible angle. Theater vs. Consumer. Theater vs. Distributor. Theater vs. MoviePass. Really… the theater industry was somehow the victim and benefactor all at the same time. My fun officially ended by the end of 2018 when I canceled my subscription for good.
Now it is 2022. MoviePass has been officially shut down for about 2.5 years. Rumors began to swell of a return in the beginning of 2021 a mysterious countdown appeared on their website. Sadly, it turns out it was a prank being pulled. No glorious return. Then, about a week ago a live event was scheduled on their YouTube channel. After a quick scroll through Twitter it became clear that this was a real announcement of a comeback from MoviePass. I hustled to the live stream and my amazing memories began to emerge. The best movie-going experience of my entire life may become a reality again. The features of this new and improved MoviePass 2.0 made me giddy and hesitant all at the same time.
A tiered system for moviegoers of any income that is merging the love of going to movies with a credit-based currency and face-scanning technology! Cryptocurrency and big brother? Just what every moviegoing experience needs! The CEO Stacy Spikes even said at one point, “I love product placement in movies!” Making it abundantly clear that he might not actually like movies and, if he used to, sold his soul a long time ago.
…Kind of like how MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t actually like baseball and has no soul… I am sorry, back to normal programming…
While that Black Mirror episode-sounding description is not totally accurate, you can’t help but think that way if you look up some details about the live announcement. More details need to emerge for me to be confident that I will try them again, but despite a failed first attempt at this, a class-action lawsuit, some really weird moments from the CEO, a cryptocurrency inspired component, and some big brother concerns, the idea of having a more affordable way to go to the movies has me giddy beyond belief. Here are more details about what we may be seeing for MoviePass 2.0:
You will get virtual units every month based on what tier you subscribe to
Any movie ticket purchase with the app allows you to bring a friend with you
These credits can roll over each month
You can trade credits between users
You will be able to reserve seats
Movie theaters can partner with the app. Allowing for opportunities to market and offer promotions directly to the user.
No movie theaters will be restricted even if they are not “partnered” with MoviePass
Advertising within the app
You can watch ads to build up your currency, but the app has eye tracking technology that stops the video if you are not looking at the screen. Are you creeped out yet?
 |
|