The ongoing feud between AMC Theaters and bargain subscription service MoviePass took another turn Wednesday as AMC announced its competing subscription plan for their theaters at $19.95/month.
What did MoviePass have to say about that?
“Heard AMC Theaters jumped on board the movie subscription train,” the upstart company said on its Twitter account. “Twice the price for 1/4 the theater network and 60% fewer movies. Thanks for making us look good AMC!”
MoviePass has recently reached 3 million subscribers for its program, which offers a movie ticket per day for $9.95/month. The low price was announced back in August, with AMC releasing a statement just hours later blasting the plan as “unsustainable” and vowing to not enter any partnership or revenue share deal with MoviePass.
Now, AMC has a competing plan called A-List, which offers three movie tickets a week at a price point that’s double that of MoviePass.
AMC has repeatedly disparaged our model as a way to discourage our growth because all along they wanted to launch their own, more expensive plan. We want to make movies more accessible, they want more profit.
— MoviePass (@MoviePass) June 20, 2018
“AMC has repeatedly disparaged our model as a way to discourage our growth because all along they wanted to launch their own, more expensive plan,” MoviePass tweeted. “We want to make movies more accessible, they want more profit.”
During an investor call regarding the A-List plan, AMC CEO Adam Aron kept his direct comments about MoviePass to a minimum. However, the list of perks he listed for A-List are ones that are noticeably absent or limited for MoviePass. This includes repeat viewings, which MoviePass removed from their service in May, and advance ticketing, which is only currently available at theater chains that MoviePass is partnered with.
E-ticketing is the way we’re going to do that, some theaters already have this activated. We’re working to on board as many partners as we can for this. You can help us by encouraging your local theaters to join our partner program.
— MoviePass (@MoviePass) June 20, 2018
A-List also includes access to all premium screenings, including IMAX and 3D, at no extra charge, something that MoviePass has never offered. IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said that the premium screening perk will be a major part of the marketing for A-List when it launches next Tuesday.
Aron told investors that at their price point, A-List will be beneficial to everyone, including moviegoers.
“Our program should be beneficial for all involved. A good deal for consumers, but being done at a sustainable price point where we will be profitable … and in turn, that we can share that increased profitability with our studio and premium format partners.”
