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MoviePass blocks subscribers from ‘Red Sparrow’ and restores an unwelcome feature

Eric Brackett
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When MoviePass lowered its price to $10 a month, it gained a lot of new subscribers. Unfortunately, some of its recent behavior is angering a number of its members. MoviePass users have reported that the app is preventing them from purchasing ticket’s to Jennifer Lawrence’s recent spy flick, Red Sparrow. 

Last month, some users reported similar problems with Marvel’s Black Panther.

In a statement released to Slash Film, MoviePass said that the company would occasionally remove some movies in certain regions to get a better sense of what their members want.

“We occasionally remove some films from our ticketing inventory in some markets for a limited time, similar to how we organically promote films in certain markets to better understand member behavior,” MoviePass told Slash Film. “As part of this ongoing testing, we have stepped up our efforts to remind members to always double-check the MoviePass app to confirm that their preferred showtimes and theaters are available for the movie they are planning to see before they leave for the theater.”

Some users have speculated that MoviePass’s decision is less about market testing, and more about reminding theater chains such as AMC  just how many customers the app can bring to their theaters.

In addition to the problems with Red Sparrow, MoviePass has brought back a long-maligned feature requiring users to upload images of their tickets to the apps as a means of combating fraud.

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In order to make that determination it has created a strategic review committee comprised of the company’s independent directors to “identify, review, and explore all strategic and financial alternatives for the Company, including a sale of the Company in its entirety, a sale of substantially all of the Company’s assets including MoviePass, Moviefone, and MoviePass Films, a business reorganization or one or more other extraordinary corporate transactions, together with the assumption or settlement of the Company’s liabilities in connection with any of these alternatives.”
MoviePass initially began operations in 2011 in San Francisco and has had a tumultuous life from its inception.
In 2011 the service allowed customers to see one movie per day for a set fee. When theaters started to refuse MoviePass customers, it pivoted to instead have users print a voucher at home for entrance to the movie. In 2012, it launched a national beta of the service, providing a debit card for customers to use to buy tickets, but that too was met with resistance from movie theaters.
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MoviePass may be dead, but that doesn't mean movie subscription services are gone. Regal Cinemas launched its own version of MoviePass in July, which it called Regal Unlimited. The plan offers different pricing tiers ranging from $18 to $24 for a monthly subscription to movies shown at Regal theaters.

We've reached out to MoviePass for a comment on the company's announcement and will update this story if and when we receive a response.

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