AMC has AMC Stubs A-List. Regal offers Regal Unlimited. Alamo Drafthouse is (hopefully) bringing back the Alamo Season Pass. But those movie ticket subscription services would not have existed MoviePass, which launched in 2011 and exploded in popularity in 2017 when it allowed users to see a movie a day for only $10/month.
If that deal sounds too good to be true, well, that’s because it was too good to be true; MoviePass resorted to all sorts of shady sh*t to prevent subscribers from seeing movies, leading to lawsuits and financial issues before eventually filing for bankruptcy.
But during a press conference on Thursday, co-founder Stacy Spikes revealed that MoviePass is planning to re-launch this summer as MoviePass 2.0. In case you were wondering, yes, he made the announcement with a picture of a phoenix behind him.
Spikes [said] that MoviePass is being reimagined as a cooperative. It will also use virtual currency and tiered pricing plans. But there were still many questions that were left unanswered. Namely, Spikes did not give pricing information for the various plans that MoviePass will begin offering in just a few short months.
There was also talk of product placement and digital ads:
He explains that with the new version of MoviePass, you can watch ads to earn credits that can go toward free movies. Your phone camera will track your eyeballs to make sure you're actually watching. "What it does is it basically creates a transaction between you and the brand." pic.twitter.com/Lip0CDXPLT
— Theo Wayt (@theo_wayt) February 10, 2022
oh no oh no oh no moviepass is gonna do a tradable virtual currency where you can involve your friends and has multiple different levels oh no pic.twitter.com/aQeQ3OX8MA
— Walter Hickey (@WaltHickey) February 10, 2022
When it returns (although maybe that should be an “if”), MoviePass should rent out theaters for screenings of Mission: Impossible — Fallout as an apology.
For much more on MoviePass, check out the Blackout Dates podcast.
(Via Variety)
