AMC Wants to Keep MoviePass Subscribers Out of Its Theaters
by EG
AMC Theatres, the largest operator of movie theaters in the country, said Tuesday it is consulting its attorneys in an attempt to squash the efforts of an independent company that is selling a month's worth of tickets for $9.95.
MoviePass has been in existence for several years, but its service took off on Tuesday when it announced it would drop its price from $50 per month to $9.95, meaning that each of its subscribers would pay less than $10 every month for the ability to attend any movie they wish at nearly any theater at the rate of once per day.
The theaters and studios don't miss out on revenue, as MoviePass pays full price for tickets that it gives to its subscribers — its business model being that it can partner with exhibitors and studios for marketing, concessions and whatever else it thinks of once it gains customers.
AMC, though, thinks MoviePass is bad for business, and it is set to issue a press release to that effect shortly, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
"AMC is consulting with its attorneys to determine if or how AMC can prevent a subscription program offered by MoviePass from being used at AMC Theatres in the United States," AMC says in its press release.
Read the rest of this article at The Hollywood Reporter.
Theaters have struggled through a slow box-office summer that has seen flops like Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and Transformers: The Last Knight.