MoviePass is Relaunching

[daylatedollarshort]

Under the same name! They made it almost impossible to cancel the last time so I won't be giving them my credit card number anytime soon. I'm surprised they would relaunch under the same name since the old one had so much bad press towards the end.


Anyone else getting their relaunch spam?

 

[OnFire]

Yep, I received the email, too, and laughed out loud. Can't believe they are using the same name!

I did get my money's worth, but it was a hassle to cancel.

 

[njhowie]

Not the same MoviePass.

Stacy Spikes is one of the co-founders of the original MoviePass - which he sold to the folks who ran it into the ground. Stacy repurchased the MoviePass assets out of bankruptcy for $140,000, revamped it closer to what he was doing before the $10/month unlimited. The relaunch will have tiers of $10/$20/$30 per month and will provide limited benefits depending on the tier.

There is still plenty of interest in MoviePass. Will it be successful? Who knows? However, Stacy will not run it in to the ground the way the prior folks did.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Not the same MoviePass.

Stacy Spikes is one of the co-founders of the original MoviePass - which he sold to the folks who ran it into the ground. Stacy repurchased the MoviePass assets out of bankruptcy for $140,000, revamped it closer to what he was doing before the $10/month unlimited. The relaunch will have tiers of $10/$20/$30 per month and will provide limited benefits depending on the tier.

There is still plenty of interest in MoviePass. Will it be successful? Who knows? However, Stacy will not run it in to the ground the way the prior folks did.

I'm not a marketing expert but to me it seems akin to naming a car the new, improved Pinto.

 

[njhowie]

I'm not a marketing expert but to me it seems akin to naming a car the new, improved Pinto.

Well, there was enough interest that their servers were overloaded most of the morning yesterday with people looking to get on to the sign-up list.

 

[youbet]

However, Stacy will not run it in to the ground the way the prior folks did.

What does it mean to run this type of business into the ground? What did the prior folks do last time, fail to replace/update the servers and let the office furniture get frayed and shabby?

 

[Aerides]

We are interested. It was a good idea with a lot of overly-abused loopholes. If it comes back to being something like 2-3 movies a month for $10, great.

Also, the movie business is now very different. Theatres might be more willing to play ball. Marketers might see more value in the user data. If it gets butts in chairs, it has a chance.

And while it might have left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths...heck, this is America, and a come back story is everyone's favorite.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

What does it mean to run this type of business into the ground? What did the prior folks do last time, fail to replace/update the servers and let the office furniture get frayed and shabby?

It is a pretty long list - Turns out MoviePass was even shadier than we thought - Vox

 

[obsessed]

We are interested. It was a good idea with a lot of overly-abused loopholes. If it comes back to being something like 2-3 movies a month for $10, great.

Also, the movie business is now very different. Theatres might be more willing to play ball. Marketers might see more value in the user data. If it gets butts in chairs, it has a chance.

And while it might have left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths...heck, this is America, and a come back story is everyone's favorite.

From what I read when this was first announced a few months ago, this will be a point system where your subscription gets you xx number of points. You can also earn additional points by watching add on the app (and no background watching). Redeeming points will be like airline miles. Opening night for the newest super-hero movie will be a lot of points if available while the Wednesday afternoon showing of a small indie will be fewer points.

The major theatre chains have their own plans now so I suspect they still won't be motivated to offer much.

I have the AMC plan which is a little more than $20/month so breakeven is about two movies/month but it does include IMAX and Dolby which is nice.

 

[obsessed]

It is a pretty long list - Turns out MoviePass was even shadier than we thought - Vox

Interesting side note. The former MoviePass CEO (Ted Farnsworth) is now involved in a company called Vinco Ventures (ticker BBIG) that can't seem to figure out who the CEO is with two people claiming to be the CEO and the board being split. It's so bad that the court has named the two claimants to the throne to be co-CEO's along with a third neutral party until it can all get sorted out. It's like real-life Succession.

 

[rk911]

Under the same name! They made it almost impossible to cancel the last time so I won't be giving them my credit card number anytime soon. I'm surprised they would relaunch under the same name since the old one had so much bad press towards the end.


Anyone else getting their relaunch spam?

nope but then we were never customers. a word for those faced with with companies who refuse to cancel accocunts. i learned, last week, that our CC company, Discover, can and will put a "Stop Payment on that company for ~18-months at which time it can be renewed. I'll bet the other CC companies do the same.

 

[Montecfo]

I find maybe 2-3 movies per year worth seeing at the theater. I must not be the target market.