|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Meet the Lone Loser in MoviePass Hitting 1 Million Members
|
Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 08-13-2018 11:48 AM
MoviePass now forcing members to choose between two movies each day
By Nicolas Vega - August 10, 2018
So much for movie night.
Cash-strapped MoviePass saw its service crash for the third weekend in a row Friday evening, leaving its 3-million-plus subscribers unable to head to the theater.
The app crash came just hours after the company quietly rolled out its latest ploy to keep users from heading to the theaters: forcing them to choose between a terrible film and a terrible showtime.
Before the service went down, subscribers on Friday could only choose between two options — the critically-panned horror flick “Slender Man” and the latest “Mission: Impossible” sequel at an odd hour.
At the AMC Empire 25 in Times Square, for example, the two showtimes available for the 147-minute “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” were 2:30 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. A moviegoer attending the late showtime would exit the theater at roughly 1:45 in the morning.
Meanwhile “Slender Man,” a horror movie centered around an viral internet hoax, currently has a 16-percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In an interview with The Post on Friday, CEO Mitch Lowe confirmed the new policy, noting that the two movies on offer might change each day.
“Unfortunately, in order to stay financially stable we’ve had to curtail the service,” Lowe said. “We had to right the ship as far as the amount of money we were burning.”
The new move was designed to help the company limp along until mid-September, when all of its monthly users will have been moved to a new plan that limits them to three movies a month, Lowe said.
He denied, however, that MoviePass was deliberately offering inconvenient showtimes, and insisted that over the next few weeks, subscribers will see films throughout the day.
“This has been a challenging time for us and our customers. We’re just trying to save our service to be able to be available long term.”
Lowe said that investors believe in the sustainability of MoviePass’ new pricing plan, but are waiting to see what percentage of the service’s 3-million-plus subscribers renew at the three-movies-per-month rate.
In May and June, MoviePass lost an estimated $85 million, and had been averaging a loss of $20 million per month before that.
Shares of MoviePass parent company Helios and Matheson hit an all-time low of 4.8 cents on Friday, and ended the week down 19.9 percent at 5 cents.
Two weeks ago, MoviePass — which costs $9.95 per month and pays full price for every ticket its users purchase — went dark for several days due to the company running out of cash.
It is not clear if MoviePass ran out of funds this time, or if it now has a limit on the number of tickets it will purchase each day.
MoviePass did not respond to a request for comment following the crash.
Earlier Friday, the new Winnie the Pooh movie “Disney’s Christopher Robin” was available at certain theaters with similar late-night showtimes as “Mission: Impossible.”
Shortly after The Post asked Lowe about whether the late-night hours were suitable for children, the movie disappeared from MoviePass altogether.
New York Post article
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 08-13-2018 12:02 PM
The problem is that planes often sell out and that movie theatres rarely do. And the difference between 80% full and 70% full is the difference between profit and loss for a given flight. A passenger might only have a choice of a few flights if he wants to get to LAX tomorrow afternoon, whereas plenty of movies are playing at the same time in most localities and most of them will have tickets available tomorrow and next week, too.
Just as important is the perception of the industry. Most people hate airlines, but see them as a necessary evil for long trips. Entertainment venues (like movie theatres) are viewed as happy, fun places, and it would not be in the interest of the industry to alter this perception, especially since there are other out-of-home entertainment options available to the public. Better to concentrate on giving customers value for the price paid (friendly staff, clean auditorium, great picture and sound quality, etc.) than on reducing prices by pennies.
I don't think that the existence of Movie Pass proves that prices are too high, but rather that people who attend frequently are (rightly) quick to take advantage of a deal.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
|
posted 08-13-2018 02:04 PM
quote: Scott Norwood
Just as important is the perception of the industry. Most people hate airlines, but see them as a necessary evil for long trips. Entertainment venues (like movie theatres) are viewed as happy, fun places, and it would not be in the interest of the industry to alter this perception, especially since there are other out-of-home entertainment options available to the public. Better to concentrate on giving customers value for the price paid (friendly staff, clean auditorium, great picture and sound quality, etc.) than on reducing prices by pennies.
I'm pretty sure Steve was being sarcastic. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
The moment people start to like movie theaters like airlines, it's simply over and done.
quote: Jack Ondracek
Would you like to check your wallet, or will that be a carry-on?
Carry-on? You know, wallets are considered hand luggage now. It's not us, it's a security measure. Hand luggage can be carried in the theater for just $9.99. Credit card or cash?
Ah, credit card? That will be $2.45 in processing fees.
You didn't print your ticket at home? No problem sir, we can do that for you... that will be $14.95. Ah... Credit card..?
Oh, and by the way, you know that all the liquids you take with you in the theater need to be sealed in a clear plastic bag?
Thank you sir, you can proceed to security...
quote: Mike Blakesley
Before the service went down, subscribers on Friday could only choose between two options — the critically-panned horror flick “Slender Man” and the latest “Mission: Impossible” sequel at an odd hour.
And as a result of this, Hollywood is probably going to think that people really wanted to see Slender Man, so Slender Man II has most likely already been green-lighted... The irony!
| IP: Logged
|
|
Allan Young
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 125
From: EGHAM, Surrey UK
Registered: Jun 2011
|
posted 08-14-2018 08:33 AM
quote: Steve Guttag
There is an idea. Take on the Hotel/Airplane model. Variable pricing based on available seats! For an empty auditorium, it would be cheap but on popular movies as it fills up...it gets progressively more expensive.
It's been done...
UK's easyCinema to test low-cost cinema concept
Ending months of speculation, the UK's easyCinema has leased the first site in the roll-out of its innovative low cost cinema concept: UCI's 10-screen multiplex, The Point in Milton Keynes.
EasyCinema, part of Greek entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou's no-frills empire easyGroup, will sell tickets for as low as 20p if booked a month in advance, applying the company's yield management pricing structure used in businesses ranging from car rentals to plane tickets. Prices will rise nearer showtime.
The Point, which will start showing films at the end of May this year, will have no box office: tickets will be sold online at www.easycinema.com, and there will be a computer to purchase tickets in the lobby. Savings will be made by reduced staff numbers.
In a statement, the venture is described by easyCinema as a controlled experiment: "The lessons learned in Milton Keynes will prepare easyCinema for further expansion in the UK and Europe."
Although an historic cinema in the exhibition industry - The Point was the first UK multiplex to open in 1985 - at 18 years old the site is showing its age and faces competition from a 16-screen CineWorld multiplex nearby. EasyCinema has a five year lease on the site, and a marketing budget of £300,000 for the first three months.
"I've made many mistakes in other industries by rolling things out too fast," Stelios Haji-Ioannou told the Financial Times, "so I'm going to sit on my hands for six months to a year before I try another cinema."
https://www.screendaily.com/uks-easycinema-to-test-low-cost-cinema-concept/4012876.article
In a very strange business decision, they ripped out all the concession stands and encouraged people to brink their own food and drink.
It closed three years later due to a combination of high rent and distributor reluctance to provide first-run movies.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
)
Printer-friendly view of this topic