MoviePass temporarily shuts down while Regal Cinemas ramps up
posted Saturday Jul 6, 2019 by Scott Ertz
The past year has not been kind to independent unlimited movie passes. The European brand Sinemia that came to the US in 2018, shut down operations, citing their inability to find profitability. This followed the nearly constant disaster that has been MoviePass, which has struggled for over a year to keep its lights on. The company has changed its offering several times, reducing the unlimited movies, changing prices, and canceling the one-year prepaid subscriptions.
This week, the company made another big move for the worse, temporarily shutting down operations. At 5 AM Eastern, the MoviePass mobile app ceased functioning, making it impossible for subscribers to purchase movie tickets, making the service completely unavailable. according to a statement, the company said that the move is only temporary, and is being done to improve the mobile app. According to CEO Mitch Lowe,
There's never a good time to have to do this. But to complete the improved version of our app, one that we believe will provide a much better experience for our subscribers, it has to be done.
We have listened and we understand the frustrations of our subscribers. To provide the level of service you deserve and we can be proud of, we need to improve our mobile app. We plan to make this improvement by utilizing an enhanced technology platform, which is in the final stages of completion.
However, this explanation has been met with skepticism. Updating a mobile app does not require the developer or publisher to terminate operation of the existing version to complete a new version unless the team is completely incompetent. While some aspects of the way the app works have suggested some incompetence on the part of the development team, this is a bold and stupid move for a company already on the verge of collapse.
The most likely scenario here is that the company is actually making a big business move behind the scenes and cannot have the brand fully active to complete. With rumors of Regal Cinemas planning to launch its own in-house competitor, with details leaking this week, it's possible that MoviePass is analyzing the market to decide whether or not to continue operations at all.
