MoviePass Goes Back To Their Movie-Per-Day Plan, Refuses To Die

Somehow MoviePass is still a thing that exists. After a long history of constantly changing subscription plans and the rules users had to follow in order to be able to use it, not to mention the significant loss of money and severe hits to their reputation, you would think MoviePass would be dead. Instead, the service is going back to its roots by bringing back their movie-per-day subscription plan.

But of course, since this is MoviePass we're talking about, there's a catch.

Deadline is reporting that MoviePass is rolling out a new "uncapped" (not unlimited) subscription plan that will allow users to see a movie every single day again for $9.95. However, in order to take advantage of that price point, you'll have to pay for an entire year's subscription upfront. So for roughly $120, you get the ability to see a movie every day for a whole year. Or if you want, you can pay $14.95 each month for the same plan. That's assuming that MoviePass is actually up and running, has a movie available for you to see, and will still be in business in a year.

If you're duped into signing up for MoviePass again (or for the first time), you'll be able to see a 2D film each day as long as they're "within the MoviePass network." That means the movie must be one of the roughly 30,000 screens in the United States that still accepts MoviePass, and it must be within their "large selection of blockbusters and independent films." That seems to imply that the restrictions on first-run releases and other movies are still in place from their last subscription revamp, so not every movie and every showtime will be available.

Plus, these price points are only around for a limited time. After this promotional period, the price will go back to the standard $19.95. But that's not the worst part about the new subscription plan.

Furthermore, the ability to use your MoviePass is "subject only to managing network demand and availability as detailed in the MoviePass terms of use." That means if you try to use your MoviePass, and the service happens to be down, they're not obligated to pay for that ticket. What a service!

But there's even more to this seemingly promising new subscription plan that makes it just as undesirable as MoviePass had previously become. If you look at the MoviePass website right now, there's an asterisk that says, "Your movie choices may be restricted due to excessive individual usage which negatively impacts system-wide capacity. See Terms of Use section 2.5 for further details." And here's what that section says in the Terms of Use:

"2.5. MoviePass makes no guarantee on the availability to any particular theater, showtime, or title that is presented in our app. MoviePass ticket inventory may vary from specific theater ticket inventory. MoviePass reserves the right to adjust its inventory to maintain fair access and usage to its full customer base. MoviePass may utilize its proprietary data and algorithms to impose restrictions on individual users based on their location, day of movie, time of movie, title, and the individual user's historical usage. This means that MoviePass has the right to limit the selection of movies and/or the times of available movies should your individual use adversely impact MoviePass's system-wide capacity or the availability of the Service for other subscribers."

So if you're a user who ends up seeing a lot of movies, resulting in MoviePass spending too much money, your ability to check in to a movie each day could be impeded at any given time. Basically, you're paying for a service, and MoviePass has the right to make that service worse whenever they want to, without notice, and you can't do anything about it. Cue Ted Farnsworth, chairman and CEO of MoviePass parent company Helios, trying to make you feel good about MoviePass again:

"We are – and have been – listening to our subscribers every day, and we understand that an uncapped subscription plan at the $9.95 price point is the most appealing option to our subscribers," he said in the press release. "While we've had to modify our service a number of times in order to continue delivering a moviegoing experience to our subscribers, with this new offering we are doing everything we can to bring people a version of the service that originally won their hearts. We're thrilled to introduce this new uncapped plan at a price point that is unbeatable in the industry."

Well, Ted, if you've been listening to MoviePass subscribers, you'd know that no one wants you around anymore. They're sick of your inconsistent policies and subscriptions. They're finished with you. Pack up whatever warehouse you're using as an office and stop this nonsense. I've seen garage sales with better business sense than MoviePass. And I've seen stuff at those same garage sales worth more than the a single share of Helios stock. That's not too hard because it's only trading at a penny right now, because you have screwed up royally. It's time to shut it down.