Watch Unlimited Movies in a Real Theater with MoviePass and a Smartphone

Do you like Netflix? I concur with that answer; who doesn’t? However, Netflix is only for in-home movie-viewing. What if you could have the same subscription experience in an actual movie theater with every box office release? As a first in cinema history, MoviePass is bringing a monthly “ticket” to regular theaters that will let subscribers into as many movies as they would like/until they get tired of seeing Harry Potter over and over.

For $50 per month, subscribers could use an app on their iPhone (or any other smartphone) to reserve a spot in a participating theater to any movie that is currently-playing. If a moviegoer would prefer to see a movie in 3D or IMAX with their subscription, then that will cost an additional three dollars (it is unclear whether that is per month or per movie).

With theater attendance steadily dropping, the industry is constantly-looking for new ways to entice people to enjoy movies in a cinema. Truth be told, if MoviePass pricing and benefits could become more aggressive then maybe it could have a similar effect as a service such as Netflix. A four-movie $30/month plan indicates that MoviePass may be planning ahead and experimenting with different tiers to see what resonates with the average joe.

The main issue with a cinema subscription is that there is not a significant amount of people that even go to a theater twice a month. To justify MoviePass, a moviegoer would have to see at least sixty movies per year. In its current, expensive state MoviePass only appeals to a niche audience.

Fortunately for theaters, anybody who does choose to subscribe will undoubtedly go more often than they do now. As an effect, concession stands would see more business and thus a higher revenue. Studios could also benefit from people viewing films that they may have overlooked otherwise.

There is currently a MoviePass beta ongoing in 21 San Francisco theaters. The company expects 40% of the nation’s cinemas to offer the subscription service when it officially launches in the fall. Users can sign up for early access and to enter a free-year giveaway on MoviePass’s onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/popcorn.moviepass.com/?');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">site.

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