Their pricing model is simple with just three pricing tiers - based on how many months in a row you're willing to
- $49.99 / month
- $39.99 / month - 3 months commitment
- $29.99 / month - year commitment
As you can see there's a hefty saving if you're willing to take a shot on the whole year. I'm going to do my best to summarize the list of theaters below. But obviously please check the site closely. Whether these economics makes sense are clearly a factor of how often you go to the movies as well. If you generally go 5x a month or less this won't make sense without a longer term commitment. If you travel a lot it's worth noting you can use the pass anywhere in the country. Also worth noting I understand the Alamo Drafthouse theaters are on the list. Just saying...
(Update 12/7: I looked a little more closely at the billing situation. Even if you sign up for a year they only bill you on a monthly basis. So if for some horrible reason MoviePass does a Kozmo you're likely no worse off. at $29.99 a month it means you only need to see 3 movies a month with them to break even. While I'm unclear how this makes them a profit (need to research their business model more) that wouldn't be hard to hit for a lot of people - so even more intriguing).
I think it's gonna be a tough go of it at this point with folks in Seattle who spend part of their film dollars on general release films. The situation is better on the Eastside with Kirkland Park Place and Lincoln Square Cinemas included. With a bonus of being accepted at the Bollywood focused Totem Lake Cinemas. Most of the independent theaters around the Seattle area are participating. So I'm finally going to have a super solid excuse to try Cinebarre. SIFF is in the mix too- that's very cool though at $5 for members the economics are way different (and a SIFF Cinema pass is cheaper if your focus is SIFF Cinema).
So far their customer support is truly incredible. I've gotten responses from Jamie (my Moviepass "concierge" with an average delay of less than 10 minutes. Stupendous! - and the main reason I'm willing to give it a shot.
I signed up to give it a try as an experiment. So far the site looks clean and simple to use once you're past the "pay-me" screens. They're in a limited beta so you have to apply to join. If you'd like me to try using their invite a friend shoot me an email, tweet, or comments comment and I'll send one if I can. At present looks like I've got five to share.
I took a pass through their Terms and Conditions. May have missed something onerous, but so far the constraints I've noticed includes
- Limited to one film per day (I'm probably the poster child as to why they put this in place). Too bad though - without this limit I'd probably by a year pass right now.
- Not all films included - you need to pay the bump for some things such as IMAX / 3D. For each film selected they provide a certificate with a dollar value on it. If the cost of the film is higher you pay the extra. I've been told the Seattle area ticket value assigned is $13 - so for practical matters I think this means a 3D movie at Lincoln Square will run you $0.75.
- Can never see same film twice (my 8 year old Star Wars loving friends and I are probably the reason for this constraint). So don't fall asleep during a screening. :-)
- Doesn't guarantee availability (which I suppose is reasonable) - though unclear at this point whether there's any quote or other restriction that might make some films hard to get into
- You technically have to print out a physical certificate. Though I'm told they mail you a pdf version of the certificate. So likely social engineering would prevail in many cases if you cannot print.
- Seems like it's auto-renewing so you need to remember to cancel it.
Update:
In case you're wondering how this works technically I did a test "buy" of a ticket. When you choose a film they send you a pdf voucher for the theater. It's based on a virtual credit card number system that the theater punches in to get paid for your ticket - in place of you paying by credit card. Which means three things. First, if the theater doesn't take credit cards this won't work (see my note below on the Grand Illusion). Second, the theater probably doesn't have to opt-in for this to work (meaning they may have never heard of it - again as per Grand Illusion). Finally, it also means that there's a bit more flex in the system than it first appears - mainly because the voucher is good for around 24 hours for any screening of that film. At least that's how it appears.
And without further delay here's a list of participating theaters 50 miles about Seattle
- Admiral Twin
- Bainbridge Cinemas at the Pavilion
- Blue Mouse Theatre
- Central Cinema
- Chalet Theatre
- Cinebarre Mountlake Terrace
- Cinerama Theatre
- Firehouse Theater
- Galaxy Monroe
- Galaxy Narrows
- Galaxy Uptown
- Grand Cinema - Tacoma
Grand Illusion CinemaI'm researching this now. But it doesn't appear MoviePass really works at theaters that don't take credit cards. Which means Grand Illusion isn't gonna work.- Kirkland Parkplace Cinema
- Lincoln Square Cinemas
- Lynwood Theatre
- Majestic Bay Theatres
- Oak Harbor Cinemas
- Olympic Cinemas - Bremerton
- Olympic Theatre - Arlington
- Rose Theatre - Port Townsend
- Tin Theater
- Totem Lake Cinemas
- Uptown Theatre - Port Townsend
- Vashon Theatre
- Edmonds Theater
- Enumclaw Cinema
- Stanwood Cinemas at the Pavilion
- Admiral Theatre - Bremerton
- Everett Theatre
- The EVERUS Theatre
- Clyde Theatre
- Dragonfly Cinema
- North Bend Theatre
- SIFF Cinema at the Film Center
- SIFF Cinema at the Uptown
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