For the sake of Tildes' decorum, I'm just going to comment that I have no idea how selling all you could eat tickets for a fixed price puts theaters over a barrel so that they have to cut a deal...
For the sake of Tildes' decorum, I'm just going to comment that I have no idea how selling all you could eat tickets for a fixed price puts theaters over a barrel so that they have to cut a deal with you, and keep my underpants gnomes gifs to myself.
It was a stupid business model from the start. Adding another middle man to the film distribution chain was never actually going to movie-going cheaper for consumers. Everyone else still wants...
It was a stupid business model from the start. Adding another middle man to the film distribution chain was never actually going to movie-going cheaper for consumers. Everyone else still wants their cut.
They proved there was a market for a subscription service, which theater operators are much better positioned to actually offer.
This is a fascinating case study for a bunch of economics and innovation concepts - it's as if someone read every textbook and article there is on the tech revolution and applied it all at once...
This is a fascinating case study for a bunch of economics and innovation concepts - it's as if someone read every textbook and article there is on the tech revolution and applied it all at once but all wrong.
In short they set up a startup company that could have been very, very powerful, but instead of doing a hook and pivot, they started with their end business model - and that couldn't work. It's the classic Walmart or Microsoft model of doing business - Walmart goes in with cheap prices and discounts using their ability to ride a loss, demolishes the competition so they go out of business, then raise their prices. Microsoft had their embrace extend extinguish. Moviepass set themselves up in an attempt to leverage monopoly power to control the market, but leveraged that monopoly power... well before they had it.
Back in the 90’s my dad had a “Movie Pass” from Edwards Theaters (now part of Regal) because he was the property manager of a shopping center they were in. My siblings and I saw pretty much every...
Back in the 90’s my dad had a “Movie Pass” from Edwards Theaters (now part of Regal) because he was the property manager of a shopping center they were in. My siblings and I saw pretty much every movie that was in theaters for free at any Edwards. This spoiled me, as I became accustomed to seeing everything and anything.
After my dad switched jobs, I leveraged my position as manager of a pizza place to get unlimited free rentals from Blockbuster in exchange for leftover slices. Once that dried up, my best friend started dating a girl who worked at a local cinema meaning we got free entrance, free snacks and weren’t harassed for bringing in a 6 pack stuffed into various pockets.
There was a good 10 years or so that I had to enjoy endless entertainment for free. When the moviepass came out, I was stoked to be able to share/relive those glorious times with my kids.
Now it costs $60-100 every time we want to see something on the big screen. Since I don’t have much spending cash it means we have to be picky about what we actually go see. It sucks to spend that much on a movie that is underwhelming or flat out bad cough Stuber cough. If the theater close to me had more variety I could justify the cost of their movie pass, but when 80% of their selection is bad and they only rotate every couple months it’s just not worth it.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. Every movie theater around me is a megaplex with about 20 screens, yet they just constantly rerun the same 'blockbusters' all the time weather or not...
If the theater close to me had more variety I could justify the cost of their movie pass, but when 80% of their selection is bad and they only rotate every couple months it’s just not worth it.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. Every movie theater around me is a megaplex with about 20 screens, yet they just constantly rerun the same 'blockbusters' all the time weather or not anyone's actually watching them. Why not play any of the recently-released critically-acclaimed indie films that are being produced every month? Sure, they won't have as many people watching them as Avengers VIII, but surely there is some way to make money with these other films.
This product had 0 chance of actually succeeding and surviving long term, but man was it amazing to abuse it for those couple weeks it was in free for all mode. I watched more movies in like 2...
This product had 0 chance of actually succeeding and surviving long term, but man was it amazing to abuse it for those couple weeks it was in free for all mode. I watched more movies in like 2 months that I have in entire years due to it. Been meaning to try out Regals new system to see if it can work the same way for me to see a bunch of movies after work for fun.
Maybe, kind of? Moviepass was the first, but I feel like theaters would have gotten here eventually. Subscription models have become quite popular in other markets, it was only a matter of time...
Maybe, kind of? Moviepass was the first, but I feel like theaters would have gotten here eventually. Subscription models have become quite popular in other markets, it was only a matter of time before it came to movies.
They might have... but one has to admit (admit one?) that MoviePass showed them the way earlier than they would have rolled it out themselves, if only because it put the idea in to the head of...
They might have... but one has to admit (admit one?) that MoviePass showed them the way earlier than they would have rolled it out themselves, if only because it put the idea in to the head of consumers.
For the sake of Tildes' decorum, I'm just going to comment that I have no idea how selling all you could eat tickets for a fixed price puts theaters over a barrel so that they have to cut a deal with you, and keep my underpants gnomes gifs to myself.
It was a stupid business model from the start. Adding another middle man to the film distribution chain was never actually going to movie-going cheaper for consumers. Everyone else still wants their cut.
They proved there was a market for a subscription service, which theater operators are much better positioned to actually offer.
This is a fascinating case study for a bunch of economics and innovation concepts - it's as if someone read every textbook and article there is on the tech revolution and applied it all at once but all wrong.
In short they set up a startup company that could have been very, very powerful, but instead of doing a hook and pivot, they started with their end business model - and that couldn't work. It's the classic Walmart or Microsoft model of doing business - Walmart goes in with cheap prices and discounts using their ability to ride a loss, demolishes the competition so they go out of business, then raise their prices. Microsoft had their embrace extend extinguish. Moviepass set themselves up in an attempt to leverage monopoly power to control the market, but leveraged that monopoly power... well before they had it.
Back in the 90’s my dad had a “Movie Pass” from Edwards Theaters (now part of Regal) because he was the property manager of a shopping center they were in. My siblings and I saw pretty much every movie that was in theaters for free at any Edwards. This spoiled me, as I became accustomed to seeing everything and anything.
After my dad switched jobs, I leveraged my position as manager of a pizza place to get unlimited free rentals from Blockbuster in exchange for leftover slices. Once that dried up, my best friend started dating a girl who worked at a local cinema meaning we got free entrance, free snacks and weren’t harassed for bringing in a 6 pack stuffed into various pockets.
There was a good 10 years or so that I had to enjoy endless entertainment for free. When the moviepass came out, I was stoked to be able to share/relive those glorious times with my kids.
Now it costs $60-100 every time we want to see something on the big screen. Since I don’t have much spending cash it means we have to be picky about what we actually go see. It sucks to spend that much on a movie that is underwhelming or flat out bad cough Stuber cough. If the theater close to me had more variety I could justify the cost of their movie pass, but when 80% of their selection is bad and they only rotate every couple months it’s just not worth it.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. Every movie theater around me is a megaplex with about 20 screens, yet they just constantly rerun the same 'blockbusters' all the time weather or not anyone's actually watching them. Why not play any of the recently-released critically-acclaimed indie films that are being produced every month? Sure, they won't have as many people watching them as Avengers VIII, but surely there is some way to make money with these other films.
This product had 0 chance of actually succeeding and surviving long term, but man was it amazing to abuse it for those couple weeks it was in free for all mode. I watched more movies in like 2 months that I have in entire years due to it. Been meaning to try out Regals new system to see if it can work the same way for me to see a bunch of movies after work for fun.
Maybe, kind of? Moviepass was the first, but I feel like theaters would have gotten here eventually. Subscription models have become quite popular in other markets, it was only a matter of time before it came to movies.
They might have... but one has to admit (admit one?) that MoviePass showed them the way earlier than they would have rolled it out themselves, if only because it put the idea in to the head of consumers.