AMC unveils $20 subscription plan to combat MoviePass

I didn’t know whether to post this in the MoviePass thread. I guess if the mods want they can just move it over there.

Anyway, it says you can watch three movies per week, including IMAX and 3D. I’m intrigued...

AMC Theatres' $20 monthly subscription plan rivals MoviePass

 

Does that work with IMAX theaters, or just the compromised "Lie-Max" standards you see in the cineplexes?

 

For as long as I remember we've gone to the actual theater like once a year. We talked about Moviepass when it came out and never got one. We won't get this. I'm willing to wait until Redbox for the few movies that come out that we want to see, and by the time they do I've usually forgotten that I wanted to see them at all. We used to live for movies, now I'm out of the target demographic by a country mile.

 

I'm intrigued...

 

One question I would want answered before joining: Can I watch two or three movies on the same day? I’d probably want to catch all three movies on Saturday and/or Sunday.

 

It will include IMAX and 3D. Don't know about more than one movie a day though.

 

We visit a local independent cinema at least once a week. And people are constantly pitching us that we should get a MoviePass. I tell 'em, we're already "members" there, we only pay $5 a show, and we still support the theater. They say yeah, but we could also use it elsewhere. We say, we don't have time to go elsewhere (and I'm the only one that wants to anyway). And if we did, we wouldn't be supporting the theater we prefer that way. They say WE COULD SAVE MONEY. And we say, but, we want the theater we support to HAVE money, because we. are. SUPPORTING. them. And they say..."I don't know what your problem is."

And we say...go online for showtimes and see how many mall cinemas are all showing the same films on any given weekend, that we have no interest in (because, having DVR's at home, we zap through movie trailers as well).

Then we say, "but if you'd like to come with us, we can get you a free pass to see our movies...because we're members."

 

Found this on Gizmodo: "Subscribers can watch up to three movies per week with the membership, or blow through their three-movie allotment in one day (with a two-hour buffer between each viewing). Repeat viewings are allowed, and your movie allowance resets every Friday morning. Stubs A-List unfortunately requires a three-month minimum commitment."

 

They'd have to pay me to get me to come to a movie theater to see one or more movie a week.

 

I don’t think it would be possible to use the word “we” more than you did in this post.

 

Sounds similar to what various UK cinema chains have been doing for years (like, nearly 20 years) - £19.99 a month for unlimited movies.

(And yes; that’s truly unlimited)

 

Obviously you can do whatever makes you happy, but using MoviePass would not support your independent cinema any less. They'd get the same $5, but it would be from MoviePass instead of you.

 

I would join something like this if it gave me exclusive access to classic movies in a theater setting. Now that would be cool!

 

I guess if you care about IMAX or 3D this might make sense. Otherwise it is paying double to be limited to one theater chain.

 

Oui.

 

Then, where is the profit motive in this business plan? AND, if it works, why would AMC try and scuttle it by starting their own competing service?

 

If AMC owns any true IMAX theaters, one assumes it'd include them.

However, I'm betting all AMC IMAX screens are LIEMAX affairs.

LIEMAX is actually worth it for movies like the Marvels, "Blade Runner 2049" or "Sully", as those use expanded aspect ratios...

 

AMC's website says this:

"You could have a triple feature in one day"

So no mention of a two-hour buffer, but that might come in the fine print later...

 

Yeah, I've seen a couple, and there's no question it's a more involving effect than a standard auditorium. It's just a diminishing of the brand IMAX has built up, in the process of "expanding the brand".

Like, say, diminishing the reputation Bose has for 901 loudspeakers, by putting the same name on a WaveRadio. In this example it appears to have worked out for them, but at the expense of a buttload of hype. And, the loss of pickier stereo nerds whose esteem is at risk.

 

In this case, though, I don't think the brand "diminishing" has impacted a passion for true IMAX.

I mean, did you hear of anyone who refused to see "Dunkirk" in true IMAX because they were miffed about LIEMAX?

 

I...never asked around, so I can't say if I even know anybody who saw Dunkirk.

 

Start asking, punk!

Point remains: your analogy implies film snobs will avoid real IMAX exhibitions because they fear the taint of association with LIEMAX.

I just can't imagine that's ever happened or ever will!

 

The first question is one that will continue to be asked while MoviePass bleeds money until they finally go belly up. They speak of nebulous things like the value of consumer data, or profiting from consumers who go to less than a movie a month (just the folks who would subscribe to MoviePass, right?), but neither of these could ever offset the massive amount of money they lose on the vast, vast majority of their subscribers. So where could the income come from to make MP profitable at some point? Clearly AMC feels that MP's plan is to extract that money from theaters once they've embedded themselves into the moviegoing experience. And AMC is not as confident as I am that MoviePass is doomed (they have a lot more to lose, after all), so they'd rather squelch it before it grows into an organization they'd have to pony up to in order to stay in competition with theaters aligned with MoviePass, once MoviePass's influence reaches critical mass.

 

Same as in Holland for €20 per monrh. Cuneville, Pathe, etc. Unlimited..

 

I was so captivated by the first IMAX film I saw (The Scorsese Rolling Stones film), I thought I'd go out of my way to see IMAX from then on whenever I could. And then I saw "How the Earth Stood Still" (the remake) in IMAX, looking like a blurry videotape. I haven't been back since, which is about 10 years. Does anyone make legit IMAX films anymore? I honestly don't have a clue.