MoviePass Users Will Have To Choose Between ‘Terrible Movie And Terrible Showtime’ Each Day, ‘NYP’ Reports

MoviePass users wishing to use the service this weekend for anything other than the low-rated Slender Man or the weeks-old movies Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Christopher Robin, may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

According to a recent report by the New York Post, MoviePass is not only limiting users to three movies per month, it’s now limiting users to choosing between only two movies per day. Today users could choose between Slender Man or Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

Another caveat is that users can either see Slenderman, currently rated at a 16 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, at a popular showtime, or they can see Mission: Impossible – Fallout at an unpopular time.

This is a significant downgrade from when MoviePass originally launched its movie-a-day service for the price of $9.95 per month.

CEO Mitch Lowe spoke to reporters from the NYP and confirmed the policy, but did mention the titles may change from day to day.

“Unfortunately, in order to stay financially stable we’ve had to curtail the service, we had to right the ship as far as the amount of money we were burning. This has been a challenging time for us and our customers. We’re just trying to save our service to be able to be available long term.”

According to estimates, MoviePass lost approximately $85 million between the months of May and June.

MoviePass was originally founded in 2011, and was originally by invitation only, before announcing in August of last year that it was opening its doors to all users and offering entry to a theatrical movie every day of the month for the price of just $9.95.

Forecasters remained skeptical of the service’s ability to stay afloat, as they explained that MoviePass’s business model was ostensibly burning their own money. But movie-goers who subscribed to the service between 2017 and 2018 were ultimately able to reap the benefits of virtually unlimited movies for longer than many experts initially guessed.

Today MoviePass still offers a wide selection of titles and movie showtimes for theaters participating in the service’s e-ticketing program. The number of theaters offering e-ticketing, however, is decidedly low.

A number of MoviePass alternatives have been created in response to MoviePass, including AMC A-List, Sinemia, Cinemark Movie Club, Mubi, Fandor, Kanopy, and ByNWR.

Each service carries its own set of rules and restrictions; for example, AMC allows up to 3 movies per week, in 3D, 2D, or IMAX, but AMC theaters don’t regularly carry art house titles or movies given a select-city release, which rules out certain titles for film buffs.