Is MoviePass about to rise from the ashes like the phoenix? The subscription-based ticket service that declared bankruptcy in 2019, has relaunched its website with a mysterious countdown clock.
The countdown clock, which can be found at MoviePass.Ventures, is set to end on Monday, March 22, and it displays a caption that reads "the movie is about to start." As of this writing, the original MoviePass website, Moviepass.com, remains unchanged from the notice of shutdown that was posted when they filed for bankruptcy in 2019. It has yet to be revealed what the countdown clock is for.
Founded by entertainment entrepreneurs Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, MoviePass was once supported in over 91% of movie theaters nationwide. The service launched in 2011 but it didn't really garner mainstream until 2018 when they lowered their price to $9.95/month. MoviePass, on paper, looked like the perfect way for subscribers to see one film per day in theaters at a low monthly cost.
When MoviePass lowered its prices it caused a huge subscriber surge which led to an unprecedented amount of signups that caused the website to crash. The affordable price also made it the target for its competition and thus began a rivalry between the service and AMC Theatres. Soon AMC Theatres offered their own program to see a film once a day and also offered rewards and incentives on concessions and other perks to sweeten the deal. As AMC was building its program, MoviePass began to face numerous controversies that included blacked-out viewings for blockbuster films (something AMC Theatres wasn't doing), a data leak that exposed subscribers' credit card information and being caught trying to un-cancel users' accounts. The service was meant to be the Netflix of the movie theater experience but the business model strayed from its original concept and, in the end, it created animosity with movie theater chains.
Does this countdown clock indicate some kind of comeback? The founders of the company have been dormant since the bankruptcy filing in 2019 but Spikes and Watt have expressed an interest in bringing MoviePass back. It should be noted that the countdown clock appears a month after it was announced that Mark Wahlberg's company was producing a MoviePass docuseries but it also coincides with the reopening of movie theaters in major cities like Los Angeles and New York City. For now, we'll just have to speculate until Monday if MoviePass is attempting a second round for their ticket subscription service.
Do YOU want to see MoviePass return?