MoviePass has indefinitely shut down all services, calling it a “temporary hold” to deal with unspecified “maintenance related issues,” but the company also says it intends to use the time to “recapitalize.”
MoviePass services went offline beginning 5:00 a.m. EDT on July 4. In a press release announcing the move, posted Wednesday, the company said it was “temporarily interrupting” services in order to finish an “improved version” of MoviePass “based on an enhanced technology platform.”
In the press release, the company said it also “plans to use this time to recapitalize in order to facilitate a seamless transition and improved subscriber experience once the service continues.” No further explanation for the recapitalization was provided.
No time frame was given in the press release, but on Twitter, the company said the outage will continue for “several weeks.” “Due to maintenance related issues, MoviePass services have been put on a temporary hold. Once we have resolved these technical problems, the service will be live again. We estimate this process will take several weeks. We sincerely appreciate your patience,” the company said.
During the outage, MoviePass will not accept new subscribers, and current subscribers will not be charged, the company said.
MoviePass did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from TheWrap.
MoviePass has endured a tumultuous year. After slashing the price of a subscription to $10 a month from as much as $50 in August 2017, MoviePass enjoyed a period of rapid subscriber growth — more than expected — and newfound popularity. But the expansion proved economically unsustainable.
The company has burned through millions of dollars, suffered from what it said was a significant fraud problem, continually frustrated customers and all around struggled to keep its head above water.
In March, 7 months after introducing a new restricting subscription plan, MoviePass brought back its unlimited movie subscription.