Movie Pass would work and profit if people did not use the service as it was intended. If subscribers stayed home and paid the monthly fee without reaping so much of the benefit, Movie Pass would not be in the state of desperation investors bemoan. They need money — and fast— and they’ll be looking to subscribers to pay. The best outcome of this service has been getting butts into seats: more people watching movies inside an actual theater auditorium. Why not. Ten dollars and I can watch a hundred plus dollars worth of movies a month, score!
Movie Pass makes paying for movies more affordable, but unless they get some major investor to drop millions and procure this company, then this particular subscription model will fail. But there are other services available to you; other subscription services and promotions to best fit your lifestyle and movie watching habits. Find one or budget better. You don’t have to watch every movie at a movie theater, that’s insane. I never did. My family would go to a movie every other year, and we loved movies! The struggle is real— real costly but our presence in-theater is of value to the art in making movies and storytelling.
The movie theatre is a venue; a luxury, to which only some of us can afford to indulge regularly. Subscription services, like, Movies Pass, Stubs, and Cinemark’s Movie Club make that indulgence a more considerable option than waiting for movies to premiere on Netflix. No matter who’s paying, it’s a great experience when we’re paying less.
Movie Pass is a great concept but a horrible business model based on the average subscription holder not going to movies.
The subscription model is great. Instead of a lump sum, they charge you more over an expanded period of time using a pay monthly or weekly service plan. Certain deals are not actual deals. A ticket price discount of 2 for 5 dollars isn’t a deal if the item in question cost 2.50. The average person watches only four to five movies a year. If you subscribe to a monthly service, guess who benefits? Not you, unless you take advantage of the services for which you pay.
Not all plans are horrible investments. Some are actually convenient. My coffee subscription for one, it’s great until they sold to a larger company.
I drink coffee and they deliver coffee to my mail every month for about the same amount I pay for in the store — maybe even less. As a creator, I pay to use Adobe products. The subscription plan is a better option for me: a guy who cannot afford that master collection worth thousands of dollars. I praised the day they made this available to the regular Joe Schmo. I only lose out when I don’t create. Knowing I pay for this service encourages me to create regularly. But, are subscription plans great for the movie industry?
It can be for people who really like movies and watch them in theaters regularly, but if you don’t watch movies often, a subscription plan is not the best option for you.
Studios could totally ruin the nostalgia of watching movies in theaters but also increase attendance with Episodic Movie or the Event Film.
Movies Pass shook the movie-going experience with their inexpensive monthly service plan. Now theater chains are following suit. Cinemark has Movie Club, the Alamo Drafthouse will debut their Season Pass, and AMC recently announced Stubs, a $19.95 monthly service that enables customers to watch up to three movies a week with no upcharge for 3D or IMAX films. And as theater chains roll out their own services to compete with movies pass I can’t help but wonder if this business model will somehow find its way into Hollywood studio boardrooms as a way to challenge video on demand.
I’m talking premium content offered to subscribers who pay to watch ‘event films’ only offered in theatres. Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, or any series based television show with a high production value distributed via the movie theater instead of Netflix, HBO, or Showtime. These event films allow moviegoers to purchase a plan to watch an episodic roll out of a film series.
For some time in the early 2000’s, there was a Harry Potter film released every year. We subscribed to those film. They were Warner Bros.’ lifeblood for ten years. What if the major film studios could harness that excitement and indulge the audience’s short attention spans and need for complete story gratification?
With Netflix infringing upon the traditional film distribution model, they will one day get some major studio to release their films to theaters. That will then cause a chain effect of what will be the event films and a rise in VOD for new title releases. Studios, like Disney, will branch off into a streaming service where premium subscribers can not only watch movies in theatres but at home in only a few weeks.
Seems crazy but face it: subscriptions services are not a new business model. Most of us pay for more than five services every month. So, why not add a plan for watching movies in theaters at a cheaper rate for great content?
What’s Next For the Summer – Scoop Du Jour
Seen a lot of movies this year. Some good. Some bad. Mostly ‘meh’. Avengers set the mark. In the wake of Marvel’s sure thing, no other film will come close to achieving its dominance over the summer. Jurassic Park is a juggernaut with potential for second place. Deadpool shot out of the barrel with subpar accuracy, missing the mark well outside the bullseye pierced by the first film. And there’s Solo: a good summer movie with the appeal of kitty cat who doesn’t pull on your heartstrings.
Solo ‘failed’ at the box office despite being an entertaining summer movie that hit all the marks of a successful seasonal debut. Action. Space. Stars. This film had all the flare audiences favor in a Star Wars film, but Solo just did not have the fandom to back this foyer into the history of Star Wars characters canonized long ago in Lucas films far far away.
That was only May releases. June is when the tracking starts; right after Memorial Day. Solo is the beginning of the summer movie season and not the blockbuster start as April’s Avengers: Infinity War would predetermine. April is too soon for summer movie tracking. With school in session, final test, and graduations to attend movie watching isn’t a priority for most. Too much going on in people’s personal lives to concern themselves with the latest blockbuster release.
The onus relies heavily upon the crop of films released after the conclusion of academic festivities and summer-life boredom begins. The Incredibles, Sicario, Skyscraper, Ant-man and The Wasp, are here to entertain, amaze, and distract you from the tyranny of blue light screens and the everyday hustle which always seems more of a burden during this high-temperature time of the year.
This That and Other News
With that Disney acquisition confirmed, I expect some awesome news in the near future concern X-men, The Silver Surfer, and Fantastic Four!
One man hears his Alexas laugh from another room and why he still has this thing is beyond my knowledge. Just as the title of this article reads: kill that thing with fire!
Weekly Gratitude:
Check your bank account often.
Links Mentioned in This Episode
Amc shops subscription model, Stubs.
Variety Alamo draft house and Season Pass
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