Coming Soon: Unlimited Access for Movie-Goers

If pirated films and competitive streaming services weren’t enough to worry the movie theater industry, this might do the trick. MoviePass discreetly launched a subscription service in San Francisco that allows consumers to pay a flat rate of $50 a month for unlimited admission to 20 Bay Area theaters.

The New York-based company said they plan to expand this service into more cities by August, and across the nation by the fall, reported TheWrap. However, the company made its bargains with online ticketing services rather than the theaters themselves.

“It’ll be very difficult to make it work without cooperation from the theaters,” Larry Gerbrandt, an industry analyst for Media Valuation Partners, told TheWrap. “And historically, they’ve been extraordinarily protective of their business, almost to the point of obsession.”

MoviePass believes its new system will benefit both theaters and studios. It argues that theaters will gain patrons to buy high profit concessions, while studios will track more information about its loyal customers through the online and mobile-based system.

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