AMC Theaters and MoviePass Testing Out Movie-A-Day Subscription Service

Photo credit: Jeff – Flickr

Remember when a night out at the movies was affordable? These days, a movie ticket can run you upwards of $12, and that’s why I don’t see nearly as many movies as I used to. In fact, if there’s a movie I really want to see, I’ll try to see the $6.50 matinee instead of paying full price.

And clearly I’m not the only one affected by these high prices, as The Nielsen Co. reported that total movie attendance has dropped 5% this year. So in an attempt to drive more people to the theaters, AMC Theaters and MoviePass announced on Tuesday that they would begin testing an all-you-can-eat movie subscription service (think Netflix for physical movie theaters) in Denver and Boson.

The program, expected to launch on January 5th, lets subscribers see one movie a day for $35/month (for standard 2D movies), or pay $45/month for any format (including Imax and 3D). If the program is successful in these pilot markets, it will be rolled out to additional cities.

It’s an interesting solution to an ongoing problem, and AMC is hopeful that this subscription model catches on, as more moviegoers = more concession sales = more money.

If you’re a movie buff who wants to see every movie out there, then the MoviePass is a no-brainer. But if you’re a matinee-goer like me, you’ll need to see at least 5 movies a month just to break even. And with the crap that Hollywood’s been putting out lately, that’s not always an easy task.

Still, millennials grew up in a subscription-based world (Pandora, Spotify, Netflix, etc), and for them this might be just what it takes to bring them back to the theaters. And that’s exactly what AMC and MoviePass are banking on.

To learn more about MoviePass, visit https://www.moviepass.com/amc.