MoviePass Will Introduce ‘Surge Pricing’ Next Month
Taking a cue from other popular apps, MoviePass is about to start charging customers more when they want to see a popular film. According to Business Insider, MoviePass will begin a "high-demand" pricing system in July that will add “$2 to higher for titles the app deems very popular with MoviePass subscribers.”
At certain times for certain films — on opening weekend — there could be an additional charge for films," [MoviePass CEO Mitch] Lowe told Business Insider. So don't be surprised if for that next Marvel movie, you will have to pay a couple dollars more. Lowe said this decision was a way to have its theaters partners see more traffic for big blockbusters in the mid-week and less-crowded weekends following the movie's opening weekend. It was also to ‘make sure that we can continue to offer a valuable service and support the whole enterprise,’ Lowe added.
This news comes on the heels of one of the country’s largest theater chains, AMC announcing its own MoviePass competitor, a $20-a-month subscription service called AMC Stubs A-List. That service will allow customers to see films in premium formats like IMAX or 3D, which MoviePass has previously not supported. Lowe told Business Insider that the option to pay extra for those kinds of films is coming to MoviePass later this summer, along with the ability to buy a ticket for friend who doesn’t belong to MoviePass.
Both of those features are a long time coming, and if they’re implemented properly, should be pretty popular. As for the surge pricing, I can’t see that going over nearly as well. The whole point of MoviePass is not having to pay for movies. MoviePass has already eliminated the ability to see a film more than once, and now if you want to see, say, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on opening weekend, you may have to pay extra. The article says the upcharge on popular titles would be “$2 to higher,” which is a pretty ominous figure. If you’ve ever tried to get an Uber at rush hour, you know just how ominous that could potentially be.