MoviePass Shutting Down For Several Weeks For Maintenance, Regal Cinemas Finally Starts Their Own Subscription
Back in April, we heard that the movie ticket subscription service MoviePass had lost 90% of their subscribers after all the problems they've had over the past year or so. The company claimed these numbers were false, but they've yet to prove otherwise. However, even though Sinemia has shut down entirely after facing similar business problems, MoviePass still clings to life, but as of now, they won't be available for several weeks due to maintenance that will reportedly improve the company's mobile app.
Meanwhile, Regal Cinemas has finally announced their own movie tickets subscription service is coming to life in the form of Regal Unlimited. The service will give unlimited tickets to subscribers, but there are pricing tiers that dictate where customers will be able to see movies.
Just before the July 4th holiday weekend, traditionally one of the biggest box office weekends of the summer, MoviePass conveniently announced that the service would be down for several weeks as of 5am ET on July 4th. Here's what MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe had to say (via Yahoo Finance) about the service temporarily shutting down:
"There's never a good time to have to do this. But to complete the improved version of our app, one that we believe will provide a much better experience for our subscribers, it has to be done."
Surely it's a total coincidence that the service is shutting down during the busiest season for moviegoing, especially with movies like Spider-Man: Far From Home and The Lion King coming to theaters. That sounds like MoviePass is on the verge of being shut down entirely and this is one last gasping breath to stay alive.
CEO Mitch Lowe is still singing the same song that he's been spouting since MoviePass started going downhill:
"We have listened and we understand the frustrations of our subscribers. To provide the level of service you deserve and we can be proud of, we need to improve our mobile app. We plan to make this improvement by utilizing an enhanced technology platform, which is in the final stages of completion."
An enhanced technology platform? Does that mean the service will actually be usable again? Even if that were the case, does anyone actually care? Movie theaters have since started their own successful ticket subscription services, leaving MoviePass in the dust. Speaking of which...
Regal Cinemas Working on Unlimited Ticket Subscription
Deadline has word that Regal Cinemas parent company Cineworld is currently putting the final touches on a movie ticket subscription service that would give customers unlimited tickets to movies for an annual fee.
Regal Unlimited will have three tiers of pricing that come out to costing $18, $21 or $24 a month. Each tier will give customers unlimited tickets, however, each tier comes with location limitations. The highest tier will let you buy tickets at any Regal Cinema location across the United States while the lowest tier only works at half of the chain's theaters. But the good news is that lower tier subscribers can still get a ticket at locations outside of their tier by paying a surcharge of $2 or $3. This is somewhat similar to the recent change AMC Stubs A-List made by changing their subscription model to be priced based on which states you can see movies in with membership.
The only downside to the launch of this subscription service is it sounds like Regal Cinemas may be requiring customers to pay for an entire year in advance in order to join the program. So you won't be charged month-to-month, but instead you'll be paying $216, $252, or $288, but that hasn't yet been finalized. Furthermore, it's also not clear if premium formats like IMAX, D-Box, and more will be covered by the subscription.
As of now, all the details for Regal Unlimted are still being worked out, but the theater chain hopes to launch at the end of July, just as summer blockbuster season is winding down. Considering Cineworld already had success with their own unlimited ticket program in the United Kingdom for over 10 years, they're taking the time to get this US program just right. No one wants to suffer the same fate as MoviePass.