Maybe.
The idea that a movie junkie could go up to 28, 30, maybe even 31 movies in a month for $9.99 a month! Considering you can pay that just to see one movie, MoviePass seemed to be too good to be true and it seems it might be. I really wouldn’t know. I ordered my card about a month ago. When I signed up I received an email telling me it would take 5 to 7 business days for MoviePass to show up, though the website has updated that to 2 to 3 weeks at this point. I was salivating. You can use e-ticketing until your card arrives, but no Salt Lake theaters have e-ticketing, which is the only way to use the service until you’ve received your physical card. It seems the folks at MoviePass underestimated the American moviegoers’ appetite:
The good news is just about every theater I go to takes MoviePass – Brewvies, Salt Lake Film Society (considering the price of their Red Carpet Club, this is a bargain – though, I still think it’s money well spent if I could afford it), Megaplex, Cinemark. Basically, you download an app to your phone and check in at the theatre before a film. Then, use MoviePass just like a credit card – one movie a day, excluding 3D films, but including new releases with no blackout dates. Once again, the idea sounds amazing and may very well be – if the card every shows up. I know of only two people, personally, that have their cards. I haven’t heard how well it works. Perhaps they are just too busy seeing movies to talk about it.
At this point, I feel like I have just loaned MoviePass $10. I’ll let you know if it’s worth it if and when the card shows up or if some theatres upgrade to e-ticketing. Then again, I have been assigned a membership number, so that won’t do me much good at this point either.
“When we changed our prices, we had no idea how overwhelming the response would be from customers and the press. In fact, we were told that the announcement was the #1 trending consumer news article in the world. Our membership grew by 2300% in 6 weeks.” – MoviePass
I assume theaters expect to sell a lot more $5 Cokes and $10 buckets of popcorn. I assume I’ll buy more of those things. If MoviePass works as promised and I, along with many like me, get hooked, how long will it be before the monthly price goes up? That tends to be how things go as demand rises. Will so many people end up with MoviePass that going to films becomes unbearable with people taking MoviePass for granted and forget they are in a theater? Will they act like they’re at home watching Netflix – on their phone, talking, and generally being annoying? I assume so. And, looking into the future even further, will there eventually be a “movie junkie” plan for people like me who love spending a Sunday watching more than one film in a darkened theatre? So many questions.
I will update this blog if and when my MoviePass shows up. I still have enough hope to fill up a 64 oz. cup, for now.
If you want to sign up or learn more you can hit up MoviePass here and play the waiting game along with me.
UPDATE 10/12/17 4:36pm
I just received this, literally after publishing this blog…I’ll let you know in 5 to 7 days (or 30 days if I go by how they measured time the first time around) if MoviePass is worth the investment.
