MoviePass 2.0 to Have Tiered Plans & Ad Viewing for Ticket Credits

MoviePass has gone through a makeover and is back with its new and improved 2.0 version.

About three years after logging off in 2019, the subscription movie ticket service is back online. Ready to relaunch this summer, MoviePass’ new plans include tracking eyeballs for movie tickets.

CEO Stacy Spikes made the announcement during an event at Lincoln Center on Thursday. MoviePass’ updated service won’t offer unlimited movies but will instead introduce tiered pricing plans.

Spikes is ambitious about the relaunch and stated that the company aims to lead at least 30% of all movie ticket sales across the United States by 2030.

The original pitch for MoviePass was simple – subscribers only had to pay $10 a month to see a movie in theaters as frequently as once a day. The strategy brought in more than 3 million customers but eventually led to bankruptcy, and the company folded in September 2019.

Spikes, who co-founded MoviePass in 2011, left shortly after Helios + Matheson acquired it in 2017. The CEO addressed these difficulties and the reasons he was fired, calling it “a really big difference in the belief of the way the company should go forward.”

Last year, Spikes bought the company out of bankruptcy and promised a new version, now dubbed MoviePass 2.0.

In November, Spikes told Business Insider,

I can confirm that we acquired MoviePass out of bankruptcy on Wednesday. We are thrilled to have it back and are exploring the possibility of relaunching soon. Our pursuit to reclaim the brand was encouraged by the continued interest from the moviegoing community. We believe, if done properly, theatrical subscription can play an instrumental role in lifting moviegoing attendance to new heights.

Another interesting aspect added to this version of MoviePass is that subscribers will be able to earn credits by watching ads while their eyeballs are being tracked.

Spikes’ other start-up from 2019, PreShow, uses a similar technology where subscribers/gamers can unlock in-game currency by viewing video advertisement content with the eyeball tracking system pausing the video when someone looks away from their screen.

Of this feature, Spikes explained,

What it does is it basically creates a transaction between you and the brand. Your phone, your device uses your own facial detection. It doesn’t go to the cloud, nobody goes through anything other than you and your information in yours. And you opt-in to do it on your own.

No specific subscription fees were revealed. However, the credits will vary according to the movie being viewed. Popular, in-demand movies at peak timings will require more credits, whereas less popular films will require fewer credits.