Move over MoviePass: Infinity and Atom are the two newest gunslingers in the showdown that has become the movie ticket subscription business. The new services have slightly different business models, but both are squarely aiming to take a share of the box office ticket purchasing market away from embattled incumbent MoviePass and its rivals, AMC Stubs A-List, Sinemia, and Cinemark Movie Club.
Infinity, which doesn’t officially launch until later this year, appears to be a direct competitor to MoviePass and Sinemia, but with its sights set on nothing less than total box office domination. “Infinity aims to unite movie theatres across the country under one common subscription program,” a company press release said, “thereby offering its subscribers the opportunity to walk into any network cinema and claim their movie tickets.”
Infinity will offer moviegoers plans at individual, couple, and family levels, with the option to add on access to premium formats, like 3D and IMAX, for an additional monthly fee. No word yet on what these plans or add-ons will cost and Infinity hasn’t yet signed up any movie theaters to its service. If and when it does, it’s going to let these theaters control what movies and showtimes are open to subscribers, which could lead to the very same problems that have dogged MoviePass in the past.
Atom Tickets, a company that already runs its own online ticketing system, is taking a different approach with its newly minted service called, Atom Movie Access. Instead of trying to run the entire box office game under its own brand, like MoviePass, it’s selling Atom Movie Access directly to theater chains, as the underlying technology platform on which they can build their own digital ticket businesses. “There are a lot of smaller, regional circuits that would love to have subscription plans, but don’t have the technology to build it themselves,” Atom Tickets co-founder Matthew Bakal told Variety. “That’s where we come in.” This would presumably result in a white label product, e.g. Hometown Theater Tickets, powered by Atom Movie Access.
Atom’s offering will give moviegoers a variety of advanced options, like advanced seat reservation, sending invites to friends, pre-paying for snacks, and app-based admissions. However, just like Infinity, it’s still the early days for Atom Movie Access, with no movie theaters having signed up for the platform yet.
