Moviepass Vs AMC - Understanding The Fight Using Us As Pawns

Moviepass and AMC Theatres are locked in a pretty public fight. John explains the issues between then and how both companies are using us, consumers, as pawns in their game.

[NimTV]

I just recently got movie pass and have been loving it

[xvs]

I love me some good business.
*grabs popcorn*
ONE SHALL STAND. ONE SHALL FALL. 😈

[RudieObias]

It's a real shitty thing for Moviepass to ask for that much from movie theaters like AMC, but I'm not going to cancel my service over it. It's just too sweet of a deal to cancel. Moviepass will likely go under and that's when I'll jump ship.

[jeffadkins]

A better analogy would be a cab driver bringing people into your restaurant based on his recommendation. He does it for free for 6 months. After 6 months and you've seen an increase in revenue, he asks for a referral percentage based on how much they spend and you tell him no. He starts diverting some of the customers to your competitor who are willing to pay the referral fee. I don't see how that makes the cab driver a bad guy.

[ABcd-bjvh]

Good job moviepass, they get way more butts in the theaters. Not like theres an amc near me anyways

[BoyNamedSue]

Still works with Regal which is all I have around me. I bought movie pass knowing full well it would probably disappear in a year or pull a stunt. But so long as I see 9 movies a year I get my money’s worth.

[crawdaddct]

Moviepass from the beginning has been trying to make deals with theater chains. Just like they have with Studio Movie Grill. It was never hidden. I'm nobody and I knew that's what they were doing. Most the chains initially told them to hit the bricks. First I heard of the rift was when AMC put out to their managers not accept it. When they realized that would not work, they did the Stubs thing. It appears to me Moviepass is partly responding to that. Of course now that MP has a bigger user base, of course they are trying to force the deals a little, why would they not. Theater chains are trying to come out with their own subscription service, why, because they know it works. MP has to fight, not to be kicked to the curb. I for one am pulling for them.

[joedelaronde]

At least John didn't' mention in this vid that his preferred card is Sinemia. This may be his first Moviepass story where he didn't plug Sinemia. Good on you, John.

[notanactualuser]

I love how you have the flag in the background like this is a service announcement

[mattred]

If you buy tickets on the self checking machines (at AMC or Regal), just type your stubs account number and it works fine

[Jedi_Cowboy]

John, given this knowledge how do you believe Sinemia will fair in all of this?

[oneopinion]

I've got MoviePass and AMC Stubbs. Didn't want to believe the rumors I heard about the updated TOS from AMC but it's in there.

Here's the thing. It's a Master Card, so unless AMC is going to block Stubbs points from accruing on any Master Card ticket purchase they can't do anything about it. At my AMC which has 20 theaters in it, there's 1 person working the desk and 10 kiosks at any given time and that person is a teenager or old time and shows zero interest in trying to look over my shoulder to see what card I'm using. So they're not going to stop MoviePass holders either.

Now if AMC decides they're going to look at Stubbs ticket purchasing patterns and try to guess at Movie Pass holders to block them, that's fine, but they'll punish some of their most repeat customers. AND at the end of the day, if they did find some way to block MoviePass holders from Stubbs points then AMC is just going to lose out on concession sales (at reduced compensation I know as I use a $5 coupon whenever I can) and at worst might succeed in driving customers to go elsewhere.

It's their play. I'll keep using both until they make their move.

[prchink]

Let’s do some math, before moviepass I visited AMC around 15 times a year. After moviepass I’ve been to the movies 16 times since October so 4 times a month avg. trending 48 visits this year and I get snacks every time because of the money I save... the average movie ticket here @Amc is $12 so AMC is trending to make $396 more from me thanks to MoviePass($576 total). Now because they refuse to cut moviepass in on the profits they will make $0 and Regal will get my business instead(at least until/if moviepass goes under)

[dennishena]

Thanks for taking the time to break down the situation for us, John!

[matthew]

every single company uses thieir customer base as "pawns" or bargaining chips to secure deals. Business 101

[Jonmacku]

There are no AMC Theaters in my town. However, there are 4 different theaters in my town that accepts Movie Pass. While your trying to figure out what to think about AMC vs Movie Pass.

I wrote this Movie Pass poem for us common folk.

" I don't care what AMC or Movie Pass Thinks.
I'm going to use my Pass,
until the free movie boat Sinks!"

[DomaineStickem]

This is why i only go to the theater to see Blockbuster films... The hell with everything else and all of the politics.

[ironcates]

I sort of feel like I've been abusing moviepass by watching close to 10 movies a month so if they want to use me as a pawn against a theater chain that's not in my town, fine with me.

[jareds]

All that you said plus amc said it didn't want moviepass and movie pass was like too bad. The only way you can stop us is by not accepting mastercard and then we will just switch to visa. Also moviepass can not get rid of all AMCs cuz then they would lose alot of customers which was the whole point of bringing it down to $10 a month. Ironically one of the AMCs they stopped working with (which is right near my house) and the closest movie theater to that is another AMC lol.

[ROBODOLPHIN]

I love Moviepass. Please, use me as a pawn. Theaters have been ripping me off for years, and just this month alone Moviepass has saved me $185. I would NEVER buy concessions before Moviepass, when my ticket alone was $16.50. Now, I buy them every time. As a movie lover, they have really empowered me as a consumer of entertainment, no longer worried about wasting money on a bad film. Now, I see everything, and it is all going directly into the theaters’ pockets.

Your leave-sweeping analogy was a bit off. You said AMC is just a normal guy, and then Moviepass swept his leaves and wanted money. More accurate would be to say AMC is a professional leave-sweeper himself. He sweeps, and charges for it. But his prices are too steep, and customers are dwindling. Moviepass has offered to go and find him a whole bunch of new customers, bringing him more money, a healthier business, and ultimately a more stable growth going forward.

Because wasn’t that AMC’s complaint when Moviepass first started? That Moviepass was going to fail? Well now they’ve seized an opportunity to not fail, and AMC still doesn’t want to play. Seems to me that they were praying for their demise regardless. It’s the Netflix effect, everyone on the block is jealous. Moviepass copies incoming as these salty chains wish they could’ve come up with it first