Moviepass is coming back to life, and it's starting small, slow, and steady.
A view of signage at the MoviePass House Park City during Sundance 2018 on January 21, 2018 in Park City, Utah.
The co-founder of the once fallen theater-subscription service, Stacy Spikes, has announced that Moviepass will be relaunching the app in a beta version this week, per an exclusive Business Insider report.
Moviepass previously shut down due to financial issues because of its business model, which resulted in the company spending more on its customers than they would pay to use the service, per The Verge and Complex.
Moviepass App Beta Revival Details
Moviepass co-founder Stacy Spikes mentioned in an interview that its once fallen app would soon be back for download with new prices and features.
In fact, the service has partnerships with 25% of theaters in the US, and interested users who wish to try out the app's beta version will soon be able to order movie tickets through the app or can wait for their MoviePass card to arrive by mail that any theater box that accepts MasterCard.
This MoviePass MasterCard card will be black, a big departure from its previous bright red card design in the past.
Those who wish to try out the app during its beta test can do so by visiting the official MoviePass website on Aug. 25 at 9 AM ET and signing for the app's waitlist.
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The waitlist itself will be open for only five days on a first-come, first-served basis. This time limit means that the waitlist will close on Aug. 30.
Once the waitlist ends, those in it will be notified on Labor Day (Sept. 5) and will be able to signup for free. To do so, they are required to provide their email address and the zip code to their address.
Those who also made it into the wishlist are also given ten friend invites to use MoviePass, allowing them to take advantage of the theater-subscription service's offerings.
Those on MoviePass' beta waitlist will be offered three price tiers to choose from, ranging from $10, $20, and $30.
Each subscription tier will give the user a number of credits to use each month to see movies. However, as the app is only in its beta test, MoviePass will not provide users of its beta version with unlimited credits.
MoviePass' Troubled Past
Spike previously founded MoviePass with Hamet Watt in 2011 with the intention of creating a service that lets moviegoers see some movies each month in theaters for a monthly fee. However, its business model, which made the company spend more on its customers than they would pay to use the service, spelled the company's prophecied downfall.
In addition to its own business model, analytics firm Helios and Matheson purchased a majority share in the company, leading MoviePass to further drop its already low monthly fee in August 2017.
This new monthly fee, consisting of only $10, gave subscribers access to films in any theater, in any market.
As a result, MoviePass was forced to close its doors on Sept. 14, 2019.
However, in early 2022, the company's website suddenly said that "the movie [is] about to start," hinting at a possible return to form.
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