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I don't think the environment will stay like this for long. Investors in MoviePass will likely not make their money back. Or maybe they'll break even on a sale
by 013a 9y ago
I don't think the environment will stay like this for long.
Investors in MoviePass will likely not make their money back. Or maybe they'll break even on a sale of assets to some major theater chain, if everyone involved is smart.
Afterward, future investors in companies like this will use MoviePass as another example for the fact the times when you could form a business mostly based on collecting user data is over. The stakes have changed, the goalposts have moved; Google/Facebook sized ingestion of user data is still very profitable, but now startups have to compete with that. So MoviePass knows which movies I go see and where I go before and after... Google knows where I am literally all the time.
They really should have started from day 1 trying to play ball with the theater chains. Theaters always made most of their money on concessions; incentivize upsells into that and get subsidies on ticket prices from the chains. Instead, they burned every bridge with the theaters they could have hoped to make. They'll pay for it.
- thevardanian 9y agoPeople going to theaters is on the decline. If MoviePass reverses that trend they will have shown their value. I'm going to wager they're at a tipping point.
- AJ007 9y agoBut Moviepass’s investors won’t be the ones walking away with anything of value. The big theater chains & Disney were just delivered a product market fit for free. Better than free, because all of the Moviepass money went to them.
- sixothree 9y agoI received a MoviePass as a Christmas give. I've learned a few things. 1. I hadn't been to my local theaters in a long time. 2. I was surprised just how convenient it had become now that nobody else is visiting. 3. I am thoroughly enjoying this movie subscription service model combined with the lack of crowds at theaters.
- sharkweek 9y agoI think I saw maybe 2-3 movies in theaters in 2016, maybe 2-3 up through October of 2017. I got MoviePass when they had that special deal at Costco, and have gone to ~15 movies (try to go once a week) since.
- kbenson 9y agoIf I had more free time, I would get it in a heartbeat (and install/uninstall as needed to keep my privacy). My first job was at a movie theater, and I saw 5-7 movies a month from age 16 through 21. I miss seeing movies in theaters, but with kids and work, it's hard to find the time, and when I do it's about $75 to get the family in. That's not cheap.
- murukesh_s 9y ago"lack of crowds at theaters" > I am also not a crowd lover, i too love it when visiting not so popular theaters where i could stretch myself in between the movie, but sad thing is it won't last long isn't it.. either the theatre closes down or the maintenance goes really low it starts to stink..
- lumberingjack 9y agoThat is strange to me. For me there is no other feeling like enjoying a movie with hundreds of strangers. Everyone laughing at the same time, people choking back tears, the "class clown" that hoots and hollers at the appropriate time. When the local theater started serving dinner and beer my friends and I became regulars again. Maybe it's just a nostalgic Oregon Trail Generation thing?
- jrnichols 9y agoI like those things too, except for the crying baby and teens that won't put their bright cell phones away. those are the things that keep me out of theaters. it was happening often enough to be an issue. (larger city)
- Feniks 9y agoReverse that trend by giving away tickets? Is that sustainable?
- beagle3 9y agoTheatres will have to find some other way to draw crowds, or they will be replaced by stores and restaurants that make more money per unit area. I suspect if they do find some other way, it will be based on some relatively new technology (perhaps already existing, like smartphones, or up-and-coming like some kind of AR), or it would have happened already. I've been trying to thing of a movie theatre / lan party combo, but haven't been able to come up with anything useful.
- vorpalhex 9y agoThere's a theater chain in my area that is always crowded and does really well: Alamo Drafthouse. Their pitch? Pretty much comes down to good service including food and cocktails, at low prices, and a no-noise policy. You buy a ticket ahead of time picking your exact seats. Tickets are about $11. The pre-show instead of being ads are usually short videos or clips from earlier movies. Food is around $12-16 an entree, alcoholic beverages are between $6 and $20 with most cocktails around $12. Oh, and if they see your phone or if you're talking during the movie, you get kicked out with the option to be banned. It's an amazing movie experience, and I regularly go at least once a month. Their food is genuinely good restaurant quality and their drinks are creative, often times with special cocktails or entrees to go along with big releases. It's obviously not an every day thing, but it's cheap enough to be a once a week kind of thing.
- leetcrew 9y ago> You buy a ticket ahead of time picking your exact seats. the whole package sounds great, but I would be sold on this detail alone. I hate having to choose between sitting in the theater for 30-45 mins and getting a bad seat at popular films.
- twostorytower 9y agoMoviePass is majority-owned by Helios & Matheson, a public company (NASDAQ:HMNY).
- bhouston 9y agoHelios & Matheson seems to be an Indian outsourcing firm.
- EGreg 9y agoI met both the CEO and their investor recently at a conference where they presented. Both are very happy with the growth and the revenues. They are currently breaking even, as their models predicted. Even paying full price for each ticket. Their innovation was getting Mastercard to issue and process their own card, so the movie theaters can't block them without violating Mastercard policy! Now their next plans are to promote indie films and much more. I do not think they need all this tracking to make that happen. Also, Uber tracks you before and after the trip. At Qbix we would never resort to this kind of thing, however the current movie theater model sucks and the prices just keep rising. And also the founder is the same guy who founded Netflix and Redbox! This would be the third time he is upending the movie industry.