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MoviePass knows about the memes.
For the most part, Spikes is okay with the ribbing.
Were already indystopia, Spikes exclaims.
You have to watch stuff to get what you want.
If we want to talk aboutdystopian were standing in it!
(See: AMCs experiment insurge pricingforThe Batman.)
Silicon Valley thinks in frequency.
Hollywood thinks in,How much can I get that single ticket sold for?the CEO says.
They were always focused on cycles.
The idea worked, he says.
Fifty percent of theaters now have some form of what we started.
They all laughed at us and said, No one is going to do subscription.
And now they all have it.
If we can be that player, thats half the market.
So, hell yeah, Ill take it.
In fact, quite the opposite.
We were actually going to see if we could get PreShow up and then createanotherMoviePass.
But I had to wait.
Your attention has value and should be controlled by you, Spikes says.
The upshot, for Spikes: Both advertiser and consumer operate under total transparency.
Now the consumer is directly relating to me.
Im getting to spend three minutes showing them a behind-the-scenes [feature] and talking to them.
I can ask,Do you want to test drive a Land Rover?
Spikes was crestfallen at the time.
The fact of the matter is we couldnt get more capital, says Spikes.
And Mitch and Ted were able to access capital.
You need more money?
He had missed out on investing in version 1.0 during a friends-and-family round of financing.
A decade later, though, Fulton was curious about Spikess post-MP moves and invited him to lunch.
Many people get second chances, Fulton explains.
Many people get two, three, and four chances, especially if they dont look like us.
And so what I decided to do was invest in him and his technology.
I didnt do it because he was Black.
I didnt do it because I was Black.
I did it because it was good technology; it was a great idea.
PreShow ended up buying MoviePass, Spike explains.
The process began, notably, with a movie.
He put in a bid in the fall of 2021.
We had to sit there for almost a month.
No one spoke against the purchase, he recalls.
And the judge says, Im granting it back to Mr. Spikes.
The brand was healthy and intact, Spikes says.
Consumers never stopped talking about their love for MoviePass.
It was very much like when Steve Jobs went back to Apple, Spikes says.
(No official launch date has been announced beyond Summer 2022.)
Just dont expect the return of that $9.95 a month pricing plan.
I can tell you theres a range, says Spikes.
You dont want to be above, say, 30 [dollars].
So you want that ceiling and floor.
This is a real number!
Ninety-seven percent said they would use this service multiple times a week!
I think we just need to stop talking about the facial-recognition part and just give them the free-ticket part.
Movie-industry executives polled by Vulture voiced a wait-and-see outlook.
Some industry observers see reason for cautious optimism, but with plenty of asterisks.
And there are services likeMubi Gopursuing art-house cinema membership programs.
That said, price points and benefits are king.
(The National Association of Theater Owners declined to comment for this article.)
Spikes says he is in the process of hatching deals with theater partners outside the big three chains.
Somebody called MoviePass the Christ brand because it got sacrificed, Spikes concludes.
The Roman emperors all became Christians.
Now the bottom 50 percent of theaters has to catch up.
And if you get 15 percent at the top, its just simple numbers.
If the industry shifts its thinking, you have something thats attainable.
