I saw 20 films for $9.95 in November — but not on Netflix. I saw these first-run features at Madison’s theaters.
A New York-based company, Movie Pass, aspires to be the nation’s premier theatrical subscription service by offering members one movie per day in theaters for a low monthly fee; an annual plan is even cheaper at $6.95/month.
With standard evening tickets in Madison averaging around $11.50, trying Movie Pass was a no-brainer. I started cynically, when only Marcus and New Vision theaters accepted Movie Pass. I assumed that without AMC Dine-In Madison 6 (the former Sundance) Madison’s market would not sustain a movie a day without quickly resorting to Boo 2 or The Snowman.
But mid-month Movie Pass added AMC 6 screenings. Instead of resorting to Halloween leftovers, I saw the acclaimed Lady Bird, The Florida Project and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. November releases like Thor: Ragnarok, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Coco motivated me to see a movie a day for 14 days straight.
I liked American Made more than I anticipated, and loved Wonder, which I would not have seen in the theater. I could have averaged a Rotten Tomatoes rating over 80 percent had I skipped Kingsman: The Golden Circle (51 percent) and Justice League (41 percent). Getting a Movie Pass eliminated the “wait for video” category, expanding the range of films I saw in theaters.
I stopped at 20 titles with Daddy’s Home 2, one title beyond what was worth my time. No bargain could attract me to what remained. Without the pass, 20 films could have cost me $230. On my own, I might have seen seven for $80.
The process is relatively easy. Once you receive your Movie Pass debit card, you install an app on your phone. After arriving at the theater, confirmed by your phone’s location, you select a screening through the app. Movie Pass then puts enough money on the card to purchase a ticket at the box office or self-serve kiosks.
Large format, 3D, and some special engagements are not eligible. I had no major glitches, but the Movie Pass customer support is poor (I never received a response to a minor problem), so don’t expect a quick solution to problems immediately before a screening time.
Movie Pass works best for lone wolves with flexible schedules. But you can quickly build up each theater chain’s rewards points and bank tickets for social outings. I earned $15 in rewards, which translates into three Tuesday-special tickets.
Too good to be true?
The catch depends on your tolerance for having your data mined, and whether you want Movie Pass to do to theaters what Spotify has done to musicians.
Movie Pass currently operates in the red, buoyed by investment capital from Helios and Matheson Analytics. Movie Pass monetizes the data it collects from subscribers. Consider the information that you provide for each transaction, and you can imagine possible revenue streams.
Movie Pass has secured marketing partnerships with studios and buy-ins from major theater chains premised on increased attendance leading to higher concession sales. I know I bought concessions more frequently, until I weighed myself. But the scheme seems to boost attendance, too. Data from the company suggests that Movie Pass boosted ticket purchases by 53% (compared to a control group) for Last Flag Flying, a film I saw in an empty auditorium.
Subscriptions to music and video streaming services are a great way to maximize our entertainment dollars, but they skew the perceived value of entertainment products. Eventually, that perceived value shapes consumer spending. Why buy a CD for $12 when you can stream any song for $10 a month? Ask any musician how this has turned out for them. A similar concern drives a threatened lawsuit against Movie Pass from AMC Theaters, which signed on when the monthly subscription rate was much higher.
Grading the Chains
My 40 hours at the movies provided ample time to evaluate Madison’s theater chains. New Vision Theatres, the newest chain, doesn’t have a mobile app. Fitchburg 18 makes occasional projection errors — I witnessed subtitles or text cut out of the frame at two screenings. But New Vision wins one category decisively: brevity between the posted showtime and the opening credits, which can be as short as five minutes. Marcus clocks in at 15, and AMC can balloon over 20 minutes.
The addition of AMC Dine-In Madison 6 swayed me to continue my Movie Pass subscription. AMC 6 remains the target of post-Sundance criticism, somewhat unfairly, I believe. But try Movie Pass without AMC 6, and you’ll miss many acclaimed titles. AMC 6 also has an abundant number of seats available for each screen, compared to several recliner-filled auditoriums that seat 50 or less elsewhere.
The lack of late screenings at AMC 6, however, led me to see the most films at Marcus Theatres. With far more screenings, early as well as late, Marcus Point and Palace provide more opportunities to maximize the Movie Pass investment. Blade Runner 2049 helped me appreciate the tech specs at Marcus. Seeing it a second time elsewhere, I missed feeling those loud drones in my chest.
Now grab a bucket of popcorn, lean back in a recliner and see which implodes first: the Movie Pass business model, or the sustainability of commercial theaters. It’s showtime!
