4 ms·

Damn if the article doesn't reek of being just one big advertisement for the service. It is written as if the theaters have no choice in the face of consumers w

Damn if the article doesn't reek of being just one big advertisement for the service. It is written as if the theaters have no choice in the face of consumers wanting unrealistically cheap tickets. A service with such an unrealistic price per month that it should be impossible to lose subscribers and be just as impossible to be sustainable once early investor money dries up. It just reminds me of the worst of the early internet businesses, mainly all the grocery delivery attempts and now boutique dinner delivery services all the theater chains need to do is wait it out, count their money from all these effectively free patrons, and then launch their own if desired version. T

j1vms 9y ago
> and then launch their own if desired version. If that's what happens in the worst case, then that would be a significant change in the business model of theaters/theater chains - and by extension, the movie industry. And that is possibly the worst case now. Keep in mind the data this company is collecting from their subscribers could be used to help smaller theaters fill their seats at the expense of attendance at larger chains.
cmiles74 9y ago
If theaters launched their own service, it would be one service per theater. If you lived in an area with more than one chain, you'd either subscribe to both or only go to one theater chain. Or, more likely, eventually grow dissatisfied with the service and cancel. MoviePass is definitely making things easier for the consumer. One subscription, any theater at any time.
- Spivak 9y ago
  I think the value-add of 'you can go to any theater' is a tough sell. If the theater that I frequent offered a subscription that was any amount less than MP I would probably switch. Why would I drive further to see a movie?
  - colept 9y ago
    If I have a MoviePass I can go to any theatre. That means I can go watch a movie with my friend who lives in the Bay area, or my Grandmother who lives in Arizona. Your question, "Why would I drive further to see a movie?" is exactly why multi-chain subscription is superior. Because I don't always go to one theatre in one city.
taoistextremist 9y ago
>theaters have no choice in the face of consumers wanting unrealistically cheap tickets. It's hardly unrealistic. If theaters are wondering why they have so much trouble filling seats, they can look to this mode of thinking. Theaters (save for maybe some chains around me like MJR and Emagine) don't seem to understand how markets work. They've been raising the prices continuously and wondering why their sales have dropped, without giving much justification for those raised costs (the theaters I mentioned either typically sell cheaper than others in the case of MJR, or they have very high-end experiences in the case of Emagine). AMC, since they've been the most vocal opponent to moviepass, are terribly guilty of this. The only reason I use their theaters is either because it's close to me (I live less than a mile away from one), or because my friends want to go to one for whatever reason. They're always terribly maintained, it looks like their staff doesn't care to clean, I can hear noise, including intelligible dialog, from other movies while watching mine, and their concession price gouging is some of the worst. If they want to start getting people back in theaters, they need to either deliver a better experience or severely lower their prices, though probably both.

j1vms 9y ago

> and then launch their own if desired version. If that's what happens in the worst case, then that would be a significant change in the business model of theaters/theater chains - and by extension, the movie industry. And that is possibly the worst case now. Keep in mind the data this company is collecting from their subscribers could be used to help smaller theaters fill their seats at the expense of attendance at larger chains.

cmiles74 9y ago

If theaters launched their own service, it would be one service per theater. If you lived in an area with more than one chain, you'd either subscribe to both or only go to one theater chain. Or, more likely, eventually grow dissatisfied with the service and cancel. MoviePass is definitely making things easier for the consumer. One subscription, any theater at any time.

Spivak 9y ago
I think the value-add of 'you can go to any theater' is a tough sell. If the theater that I frequent offered a subscription that was any amount less than MP I would probably switch. Why would I drive further to see a movie?
- colept 9y ago
  If I have a MoviePass I can go to any theatre. That means I can go watch a movie with my friend who lives in the Bay area, or my Grandmother who lives in Arizona. Your question, "Why would I drive further to see a movie?" is exactly why multi-chain subscription is superior. Because I don't always go to one theatre in one city.

taoistextremist 9y ago

>theaters have no choice in the face of consumers wanting unrealistically cheap tickets. It's hardly unrealistic. If theaters are wondering why they have so much trouble filling seats, they can look to this mode of thinking. Theaters (save for maybe some chains around me like MJR and Emagine) don't seem to understand how markets work. They've been raising the prices continuously and wondering why their sales have dropped, without giving much justification for those raised costs (the theaters I mentioned either typically sell cheaper than others in the case of MJR, or they have very high-end experiences in the case of Emagine). AMC, since they've been the most vocal opponent to moviepass, are terribly guilty of this. The only reason I use their theaters is either because it's close to me (I live less than a mile away from one), or because my friends want to go to one for whatever reason. They're always terribly maintained, it looks like their staff doesn't care to clean, I can hear noise, including intelligible dialog, from other movies while watching mine, and their concession price gouging is some of the worst. If they want to start getting people back in theaters, they need to either deliver a better experience or severely lower their prices, though probably both.