Though it has positioned itself as a disruptor in the movie ticketing industry, MoviePass has experienced issues over the last few months. The most recent of these stories occurred this weekend when the platform would not let users see Mission: Impossible - Fallout, a movie that (based on the box office numbers) a lot of people wanted to see. Now CEO Mitch Lowe has responded to this issue, and in a recent statement, MoviePass noted that this practice of withholding Fallout tickets without any extra fees or delays is no different than the limited access to content on streaming platforms. If you didn't get to see the movie this weekend with your MoviePass, here's why:
As we continue to evolve the service, certain movies may not always be available in every theater on our platform. This is no different than other in-home streaming options that often don't carry the latest shows or movies that may be available on other services. For example, you can't ever find Game of Thrones on Netflix, nor is Season 4 of Schitt's Creek available there yet. Here at MoviePass, we have strived to make every movie in theaters available to you as part of your subscription, and Peak Pricing has allowed -- and will continue to allow -- us to do so.
Mitch Lowe's statement seems to serve as an apology for the inconvenience and a bit of clarification over MoviePass' current business model. In the face of consumer outrage over the move to block users from using their subscriptions to see Mission: Impossible - Fallout over the weekend, Lowe's comment on the matter draws comparisons to streaming services like Netflix, which don't offer immediate access to all entertainment content, either. Given that Mitch Lowe says the company is still "adjusting" its Peak Pricing algorithm, it's unclear what movies will be affected moving forward, but this weekend has shown that the MoviePass model has already evolved away from its original pitch of simply letting viewers see one movie of their choice per day.
Previously, MoviePass announced it would be introducing Peak Pricing, as well as some upcoming features like Bring-a-Guest and Premium Features, and Mitch Lowe's statement touches on those coming in the future before he attempts to clarify what Peak Pricing is and how it works:
As we've shared with you before, rather than raise the price of the subscription, we've decided to enable all of you to have the choice between high value (ability to see up to one movie a day) at a low cost ($9.95) versus the flexibility to see whichever movie you want, wherever and whenever you want to see it. In other words, you can choose to see a movie in high demand on Opening Weekend for a small additional surcharge, or wait to see a popular movie a bit later in its theatrical run at no additional cost.
There are a couple of different ways to look at this if MoviePass is going to go so far as to delay access to films until after their opening weekends. On the one hand, MoviePass does make a point that plenty of services don't offer immediate access to specific forms of content. On the other hand, people have noted that they signed on for MoviePass when it had different terms of service. Regardless of how you look at it, subscription movie tickets remain a burgeoning industry, and this moment seems like one of the many growing pains that we have seen pop up in recent months.
CinemaBlend will bring you more information related to Moviepass' business moves as further details associated with the platform are made available to us. As for Mission: Impossible - Fallout, the film is currently in theaters, and you can check out our review and our To 3D Guide to the movie to figure out which ticket is worth your money!
