MoviePass, the subscription moviegoing service that got off to a great start two years ago after ending in liquidation, is set to return to Labor Day in beta form with a new level of pricing system.
The subscription service will reopen Thursday, Aug. 25, with a waiting list posted on its website at 9 a.m. ET, where Cinemagoers interested in joining the beta version can sign up, the company confirmed to Deadline.
According to Business Insider’s Jason Guerracio, the waiting list will be open for five days and free to sign-up on a first-come, first-served basis. The first batch of successful applicants will be notified on Labor Day when they will be offered three membership price tiers.
Prices will range between $10, $20, or $30 per month and each subscription option will give the user credits in cash each month for watching movies. Business Insider reported that there won’t be an unlimited viewing option during the beta version of the service.
Earlier this year, Deadline reported that Stacy Spikes, the former studio marketer who co-founded MoviePass, only to be out as its CEO, to serve during a panel at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater. Outline of revival plans. Spikes and their business partners acquired the brand out of bankruptcy and have hired a number of former employees, including engineers.
“We’re going to make mistakes,” Spikes said while discussing its planned reboot of the service. “We’re not going to take it out of the box. It’s going to be trial and error.”
Spikes, who previously worked as an executive at Miramax, October Films and Sony Music, co-founded MoviePass in 2011. During his early tenure at the company, MoviePass developed a devoted following with most of its focus on specialty business.
In 2018, when MoviePass began hitting turmoil, major wide releases like Mission: Impossible – Fallout experienced such heavy demand that it essentially fried MoviePass’s circuit board. The company was unable to obtain enough tickets to fulfill customer orders, a noisy mess that was followed by several revisions to the pricing strategy.
Mark Wahlberg’s Unreal Ideas, the company behind HBO’s Emmy-nominated McMillians, is currently developing a documentary on the rise and fall of MoviePass. Unreal Ideas has teamed up with Montage Media and Insider (formerly Business Insider) to develop a premium limited documentary.