MoviePass is still a damn mess, hemorrhaged way more cash in 2018 than originally reported
Aux Features MoviePassJust when you think MoviePass could not have gone down in brighter flames, the parent company of the defunct subscription service has been forced to formally acknowledge all of the money they managed to lose, which is a bit higher than they initially let on.
The service’s owners Helios & Matheson originally reported net losses of $137.2 million for the quarter ending in September of 2018. After further scrutiny, that number was adjusted to $146.7 million. The company also had to revise the numbers from the previous three fiscal quarters, restating their originally reported deficit of $246.9 million to more accurately reflect the $256.4 million of actual losses – just a pesky $10 million difference.
The discrepancies don’t stop with the losses; the company failed to accurately report their revenues, as well. What was originally reported as $81.3 million in gains has since changed to $74.7 million. Helios & Matheson claim the glaring fallacies were due to an “erroneous recognition of up to approximately $5.9 million of revenue from certain MoviePass subscriptions that were in a suspended state due to changes made to the MoviePass subscription service that had not yet been consented to by the applicable subscribers.” The company also left out a significant amount of refunds that were issued after the service started to show signs of turmoil, such as the mass blackout last July.
MoviePass garnered mass appeal through an ultimately unsustainable business model that sold an unlimited movie-going experience at just $10 a month. When the company started to run out of money, they attempted to right the ship with price hikes and new services. But once your consumers get turned away at a matinee showing Incredibles 2, the damage is already done. This new development seems to nicely compliment the company’s currently ongoing investigation for fraud by the New York attorney general.
[Via Variety]
36 Comments
After all the dust settles and nobody is punished for this, I bet MoviePass: The Movie is going to be both hilarious and depressing.
“Instead of ‘The MoviePass’, just make it ‘MoviePass’. It’s cleaner.”
“If you guys were the inventors of MoviePass, you’d have invented crap.”
Yeah, but like, how will I be able to see it cheaply enough?
I can’t wait for the scene where they call Andy King to help out with their investors.
Someone needs to just take this company out back and “take care of it,” Old Yeller style.
I like how with most “disruption” companies, the only thing they disrupt is investor’s investments.
You mean to tell me that the failing, ineptly run company is still failing and ineptly run?
They aren’t that inept. I mean, I predicted the FTC would have shut them down for obvious fraud 8 months ago. They sure showed me.
What is this ‘frud’ you speak of? MoviePass is a legit business that creates value out of thin air!
“It was always worth it to me, bro.” – at least forty idiots in these comments, no doubtSome friends of mine does a regular update on the whole MoviePass debacle on his podcast, and I convinced them to play the ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ theme music under it as they talk. It fits like a glove.
““It was always worth it to me, bro.” – at least forty idiots in these comments, no doubt”
Nailed it.
Starred and replied. They’re so proud to have put their favorite company $250 million in the hole. Hey, at least they got to see ‘The Meg’ at 11:00 at night in a theater 40 miles away.
Yes, because people going to the movies as many times as they want on the dime of the company who told them, “Hey! Go to the movies as many times as you want!” is somehow NOT the fault of the company.
I’m not saying it isn’t the fault of the company. They presented a ridiculously flawed business model that could never have worked, and people took advantage of it. They deserve every bit of trouble and woe that they’re currently enduring. Do I blame people for doing it? I heckle them because of what it turned into, sure, but I guess I can see the weird, short-sighted logic in it. But don’t sit here and try to tell me that by taking advantage of it, you didn’t contribute in sinking the company. Because you did that. You built that. If no one had taken them up on their stupidity because they saw how flawed the business model was, they wouldn’t be $250 million in the hole right now. Both sides of the equation can be at fault, and letting yourself off the hook by telling me otherwise over and over doesn’t change that. By ripping MoviePass off month after month, you helped sink them every step of the way. Really all it comes down to.
I freely admit that I contributed to Moviepass’ downfall. I, personally, put them $1,000 into the hole. What I object to is your implication that I am in any way RESPONSIBLE for Moviepass’ situtation. There’s a different between being a contributing factor and being at fault. I didn’t swindle money from a bunch of Girl Scouts selling cookies outside the Piggly Wiggly. I subscribed to a service that was offering something I knew was too good to be true, that I knew was not sustainable, that the entire business community knew was not sustainable, yet was being offered by grown men of business who had a plan that it turned out they couldn’t execute. Their failure is in no way my fault. If Jeff Bezos was standing on a street corner offering me a $1,000 if I gave him $100, I’d give him $100 with no regrets. If he can’t turn a profit with my $100, why on Earth would that make ME responsible?
As a former subscriber who enjoyed it while it lasted (and saw a lot of dumb fun movies that I normally would never have paid for but that I was interested in seeing), but bounced when it became work, I could never understand the sentiment at the end of “ugh I had to go see [garbage film] tonight and it was terrible >:(”
Like, if you feel obligated to use a subscription because you paid for it, or because you want to make the company spend money out of spite, and are not using it because you were already going to do something and now this is just saving you money you had already allocated to the movies *you’re doing it wrong*. That’s like sales/savings/coupon/whatever 101. Don’t buy anything without looking for a discount first, but also never buy something simply cause it’s discounted. And then also don’t hate-watch movies. And then just fucking leave if you’re not satisfied? Movie-pass bros are like the person who complains about their hamburger being raw, but then ate the entire thing anyways.
I just don’t understand how and why they let themselves off the hook for sinking the company just because they got a deal on seeing movies for a few months. If they hadn’t participated, the company wouldn’t have gone belly up. Cause/effect.
I don’t really understand your logic here. It isn’t “ripping the company off” to take them up on a service they offer. MoviePass advertised as a business on the back of that idea. Consumers took them up on it, either believing the company would find a way to make it profitable for themselves, or else hoping to enjoy it while it lasted. Either way, that’s not REALLY customers’ fault at all.
Sure it is. Maybe not at first when all seemed rosy and there was no public indication that the thing could never, ever make a profit (which is even more clear now that it’s come out about how much they REALLY lost), but when it became more and more clear that the whole thing was destined to go belly up, despite what the hucksters in the corporate office kept saying? Yup. Anyone and everyone who bought into it after a certain point helped sink it. Whether or not someone ‘enjoyed it while it lasted’ does nothing to change that. I bet Major Kong had a good time riding his particular bomb all the way down, too.
Indeed. I saw a shit-ton of movies with my Moviepass subscription, but I never once felt like anyone else – Moviepass, the film’s producers, the theater chain – wasted my time. I make a conscious decision to see every movie I see, and it would never occur to me to blame anyone else if I don’t enjoy the experience.Then again, I don’t see a lot of other people complaining about this either, so I’m not sure why anyone would bring up this issue. I’ve never met anyone with a Moviepass subscription that said, “That fucking Moviepass made me see Skyscraper, those pricks!”…at least, not with any sincerity.
Ah, well. I will look back fondly on the glorious year when I was able to pay $10 a month and see any movie, at any theater, at any time.I now have to drive 20 miles to the nearest AMC (I’m on that subscription plan) instead of the Regal down the street, but it’s still worth it.The funniest thing is that the company compared it to a gym membership, which people don’t use every day. Which makes no sense; unlike sitting on your ass in a movie theater, working out is HARD.
So last year when Hannukah came up my brother and I decided not to ask Mom for another year of Moviepass. He chose some complicated subscription service that would work in New York. I asked for a – wait for it – gift certificate to the theater in walking distance of me in Chicago. No restrictions on showings. It’s basically glorified cash and it’s a wonderful way to go to the movies.In the meantime, the saga of the Moviepass ski chalet continues. How many pictures did they take of it? Like a billion?
That ski chalet will be the location of the next Fyre Festival.
I think you mean the Yce Festival.
I use Sinemia in Canada and it seems to be headed in the same direction. It’s nearly constant rule changes and new fees and hard to reach CS. The only debate that seems to be happening now is whether or not they’re actually trying to make the service work or are they just legit scam artists.
Is it even still usable? I’m in SoCal and there were zero theaters available on MoviePass in a 100 mile radius like 6 months ago.
Recently for me at least, it lists most of my local theaters and about 6-8 movies per day, but about half are very limited release films. When they do show up as playing near me, they may have limited hours compared to what they’re actually showing. (Based on comparisons with friends I think if you forget to use the service for a couple months then you are more likely to see more available screenings?)
On weekdays if I check before 4PM PDT there’s something like a 40% chance there are still screenings to check in to, and on weekends it’s more like 11AM— otherwise it will tend to pretty quickly say there are no more screenings available at any given venue. I do wonder if it’s since they set aside a specific amount of money away for tickets per day, and because of that might work a little better on the east coast?It’s terrible and frustrating but I can still use it about once a month if I swing by a theater on a lunch break and buy a ticket for later in the evening.
you’re lucky. I get bupkis. I did get my moneys worth and it was fun while it lasted. Oh well. :/
“But once your consumers get turned away at a matinee showing Incredibles 2, the damage is already done.”MoviePass was still alive and kicking when Incredibles 2 came out… it wasn’t until Mission: Impossible Fallout that it went off the rails.
And now I am remembering when they sent out the email saying “hey go see MI: Fallout this weekend” and it was still impossible to see because the app had become hot garbage. In spite of how much I got out of them, I am still equal parts angry and incredulous with how they operated for the final month that I had it (which really wasn’t that far into the whole debacle). I remember seeing showings in the app when I got into my car and having them all disappear by the time I got to the theater. I still consider myself lucky that I got to see Crazy Rich Asians right before they pulled the “you can only pick from these 7 movies” thing.
This might be the only time when a company committed fraud, lied about pricing, and tried to sustain an unsustainable business model – and I got like 15 free movies out of it. RIP Moviepass, you will be missed by cheap basterds like me.
Man the ride was good while it lasted. Saw a lot of movies with this baby.
Where are they getting the money to continue operations? It seems like every other report on MoviePass points out that their funds are perilously low, but they keep on going – and losing millions of dollars. It’s not like Uber, where they’re losing money with no end in sight but you understand that they’re temporarily making up the difference with a shit-ton of investor capital. Who is investing millions in MoviePass?
*complement
Good old MoviePass. I’d feel bad about the roughly $1700 I cost them, but they were the ones who made the promises they couldn’t keep. Still, I wouldn’t mind chipping into their legal defense fund. I sure do miss going to a movie multiple times a week without regard to whether I was wasting my money on, say, The Strangers: Prey at Night, or stumbling across a trashy, unexpected gem like Acrimony. Those truly were the days.