MoviePass to Experiment With Tiered Pricing to Lure New Customers
MoviePass, which has aspired to be the movie-theater equivalent of Netflix since launching in 2011 but has yet to reach that lofty goal, will soon begin experimenting with new subscription tiers in order to appeal to a wider audience. Netflix co-founder Mitch Lowe, who was recently named the company’s CEO, tells Variety that he wants to “help get people back into theaters so they can be reminded of how great it is to see a movie on the big screen.”
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Subscribers currently pay between $30 and $45 per month (depending on their location) to see one movie per day, though certain restrictions apply: Not all theaters accept MoviePass and 3D screenings aren’t always included. Lowe’s new plan of tiered packages could start as low as $20 a month, which would include a smaller offering of films to choose from, and go as high as $100 for unlimited choices in all formats, including 3D and IMAX. “We need to experiment,” Lowe says. “Not every package will meet all the people’s needs.”
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Some users have already received information regarding these new plans, which for many will represent a price increase. “They’ll lose a lot of early adopters like me” with such packages, said Peter Duckler, a Los Angeles–based consultant who’s been subscribed to MoviePass since 2014. “What they’re trying to do is eliminate the unprofitable people. The people who use the service all the time.”
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