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A comment on MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday. Parent comment

Re:MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thu... by scarface74 on Friday July 27, 2018 @02:42PM (#17628159)
AMC's subscription plan is especially attractive to high-volume users on which it will likely lose money, further, it encourages them to use their free tickets at peak times for the most popular movies in the most expensive formats. When an AMC subscriber in NYC reserves a seat for a Marvel film in IMAX on opening weekend, that's a $20+ ticket that AMC can't sell to a paying customer because the theater is sold out.

- AMC made a deal with the studios. All movies are accounted for as being purchased for $8.99. AMC then pays the studio 40-60% of that price.

- Thd turnover of AMC movies isn’t that great. I doubt they have more than 8 new movies in a month - even fewer that a person wants to see

- Concessions are a high profit margin product. The average movie goer was already paying around $5.00 in concessions. They will probably pay more now since the movie was “free”.

- the subscription plan is not available for anyone under 18. If you take your kids they pay full price for the movie and concessions.

I can’t find the article now where I saw this. But the $8.9@ per movie price was widely reported.

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Re:MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thu... by listenallyall on Friday July 27, 2018 @03:12PM (#17628403)
The WSJ article says that's for standard 2D films. But A-List encourages subscribers to see 3-D, IMAX, Dolby, etc. It also says the studios aren't on board with the $8.99 figure and are seeking changes in AMC's calculations.

https://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2018/06/25/amc-s... https://www.wsj.com/articles/hollywood-studios-fear-amcs-new...

The studios are not going to sit back and accept just $5 per admission to Black Panther on 3-D IMAX on Saturday night of opening weekend, when that ticket retails for $18-25 (depending on location). Studios usually collect 80-90% of ticket revenue for big movies on opening weekend.

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Re:MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thu... by scarface74 on Friday July 27, 2018 @03:31PM (#17628584)
I can’t find the numbers now, but Imax did make some kind of deal with AMC.

https://deadline.com/2018/06/imax-approves-amc-theaters-new-... By “wouldn’t affect the overall economics”, I assume they meant that AMC promised them that the offset in revenue would be made up by the number of people seeing IMAX or they would make up the difference. Not they are paying full cost.

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Re:MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thu... by listenallyall on Friday July 27, 2018 @06:51PM (#17630110)
Of course IMAX is on board with AMC's plan. IMAX was one party that was credibly threatened by MoviePass, since MP customers were prevented from purchasing IMAX tickets. MP customers will see Mission Impossible tonight in normal 2D for free, reducing the demand for IMAX.

AMC completely flips the script. Its members can see IMAX films without any premium cost, even on opening weekend. Regular screen, or 3D IMAX for the same cost (both for free)? Of course, let's go see IMAX.

The problem for AMC is that it is now on the hook for paying the IMAX premium. Your article says, vaguely: "the theater chain will ensure there is no reduction in Imax’s overall economics." So it's a no-lose proposition for IMAX but AMC now has to cover the cost of tickets sold to A-Listers.

Here is a link to Regal theaters showing Mission Impossible tonight: https://www.regmovies.com/movies/mission-impossible-fallout/... Notice how nearly every showing says "No Passes"? That's because giving away a free seat to a sold-out show reduces ticket revenue. That's been basic policy at movie theaters for decades. AMC has decided to toss that model out the window.

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Re:MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thu... by scarface74 on Sunday July 29, 2018 @12:50PM (#17639014)
The best I can infer, is that simplistically the deal will be if they expected to make $X from IMAX based on Y people showing up before the subscription, as long as they make at least $X or slightly more than $X, IMAX will be happy with the decreased cost per ticket.
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