Brooks Barnes, New Drama at Multiplex Subscriptions; An app attracts coveted Hollywood audience: millennials. New York Times, Dec 28, 2017.
Quote:
"Mitch Lowe, a Netflix co-founder * * * took over a [film] ticketing firm called MoviePass in June 2016. By August this year, when MoviePass introduced a cut-rate, subscription-based plan -- go to the movies 365 times a day for $9.95 a month -- Mr Lowe had been declared an enemy of the state [eg, by AMC Entertainment, the largest multiplex operator in North America]
"MoviePass said this month that it had signed up more than one million subscribers in just four months.
"Under the MoviePass business model, theaters get paid full price for every admission. People who sign up receive a membership card that functions like a debit card. When members want to see a movie (no more than one a day) they use a MoviePass smartphone app to check in at the theater. The app instantly transfers the price of a ticket to the membership card. Members in turn use the card to pay for entry. It all works independently of theaters, something to their chagrin [because theaters do not have members' choices/ habits, possibly not even names or addresses].
"Criticism from theaters and studios owners -- namely that MoviePass will never be able to make money by charging $0.95 a month when a single ticket can cost almost twice that amo8unt.