MoviePass, The Company That Brought You Gotti, Is Coming Back

"What is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger." So goes the commonly-used saying of House Greyjoy on "Game of Thrones," but who could've ever thought those words would predict the swift demise and the shocking return of MoviePass, of all things? That's right, you read that correctly. Remember that one summer a few years back when the movie ticket subscription service inexplicably decided to decrease their subscription prices to an absurdly low charge and moviegoing fanatics like you and me swarmed the app, signed up to watch dozens and dozens of movies in theaters for a negligible charge, and subsequently drove the company into a hilariously predictable bankruptcy? Things got a little messy towards the end, of course, as the company found itself under siege by angry customers for purposefully preventing anyone from buying tickets for the biggest new releases in a last-ditch effort to stay in business. The situation behind the scenes wasn't much better, as even MoviePass employees walked off the job due to terrible working conditions. The upstart enterprise and the dream of watching an unlimited amount of movies for an unreal cost, it seemed, was dead.

But not so fast! Like Emperor Palpatine coming out of nowhere to haunt "Star Wars" decades after his unquestionably definitive death, MoviePass may be once again rising out of the ashes to give moviegoers yet another option for a subscription service. And also, you know, hopefully throw away thousands and thousands of their dollars funding more meme-movies like "Gotti." Fingers crossed.

If the events of the last several years should have taught us anything, it's that we're living in the most ridiculous timeline. That's why it's maybe not as big of a shock as it otherwise might've been that MoviePass is apparently seeking to relaunch the company. This report comes from Business Insider, who detail the news that original co-founder Stacy Spikes has managed to buy back Helios and Matheson Analytics — the parent company of MoviePass – after a New York bankruptcy judge formally approved the sale earlier this week. Spikes released a statement to the outlet, saying that:

"I can confirm that we acquired MoviePass out of bankruptcy on Wednesday. We are thrilled to have it back and are exploring the possibility of relaunching soon. Our pursuit to reclaim the brand was encouraged by the continued interest from the moviegoing community. We believe, if done properly, theatrical subscription can play an instrumental role in lifting moviegoing attendance to new heights."

This latest bid to revive MoviePass comes with a new website domain (iwantmoviepass.com, naturally) and a fancy new logo that trades in the familiar red coloring — which, in retrospect, should've been interpreted as foreshadowing the company's impending implosion — for a much more financially optimistic black.

The sudden rise and just-as-quick fall of MoviePass wasn't entirely a waste, however, as it proved that customers have a genuine hunger to experience movies on the big screen and will happily do so if the prices aren't prohibitive. This almost singlehandedly led to the subscription services that major theater chains have since implemented, such as AMC's A-List program, the Regal Unlimited Movie Subscription Pass, or Alamo Drafthouse's Season Pass. Obviously, the question now becomes a matter of how MoviePass can hope to remain relevant now that the industry has moved on with far more reliable methods of their original idea. Let's just say that these name-brand services don't come with quite as much baggage as MoviePass does.

Through it all, let's not forget that Mark Wahlberg is still expected to produce a docuseries about MoviePass that undoubtedly needs to capture this latest development in this incredibly entertaining saga. I, for one, welcome the attempted return of our once (and future?) too-good-to-be-true movie subscription overlords.