Broke Millennial’s blog post looks into the MoviePass which is a new innovation in the US movie theater market that aims to regain theater’s dwindling customer base. Essentially, MoviePass is a $35 monthly subscription that allows people to watch unlimited movies each month (unlimited meaning only one per day). The MoviePass will attract avid movie-goers but to the majority of people, this new idea may not be as successfully received.
Personally, I don’t believe it will be very effective in increasing the number of movie theater customers. My reason being that while expensive prices is a leading factor in the declining number of people going to theaters, I think that in general, the number one reason people are no longer going to the theaters is because of the convenience of the internet; sites such as Netflix and free (illegally downloadable) movies are so easily accessible. I would much rather watch a movie in the comfort of my home than have to go out, commute to the theater, wait in line, pay for overpriced popcorn, and sit in the same, uncomfortable chair for two hours. Furthermore, with a HDMI cord (to connect my laptop to the TV), a big screen TV and surround sound in my own home, I basically have a mini theater in my basement. Similar to me, I believe many people, especially those in my generation, are accustomed to watching movies on their laptop and view going to the movie theater as an infrequent luxury. Even with a good deal on prices I don’t think many people, other than movie fanatics, will be inclined to subscribe to MoviePass. Overall, despite this being an innovative idea, the declining movie theater industry will need more than this to bring it back to its past popularity.
Sources:
Picture from: http://celluloidjunkie.com/2014/03/05/moviepass-adjusts-pricing-beta-subscribers/