MoviePass Will Start Charging A Fee To See High-Demand Movies

Brace yourselves, MoviePass customers. The company is about to introduce a big change to the way it works, one that will no doubt upset some subscribers. Starting in July, MoviePass will charge a small fee to see movies that it deems as high-demand, a sort of surge pricing apparently intended to help reduce demand during peak times. The fees will start at $2 and depend on the movie.

This is one of multiple changes coming to MoviePass, according to Business Insider, which got the information from company CEO Mitch Lowe. It seems the fee will be a relatively rare thing, targeting blockbuster movies during moments of high demand, such as Friday night and the weekend. By charging this, MoviePass hopes to drive more mid-week traffic to their theater partners.

The company has some big plans for other features, too. Later this summer, MoviePass will introduce an option to bring a friend when a customer buys a ticket. This feature will be for friends who don't have their own MoviePass subscription; the customer will have to pay for it, though its hinted that the price may be a tad different than the regular retail rate.

As well, MoviePass is gearing up to offer a price option that includes premium movies, such as IMAX. Under this feature, the customer will choose to pay a fee that lets them basically upgrade from a standard to premium viewing. That fee won't be too much, ranging from $2 to $6, assuming nothing changes by the time the feature arrives.

It's a work in progress, though, and it'll initially involve those two new features — friends and premium — being separated. Customers will have to choose to bring a friend or see a premium movie, but not both. That'll change at some point in the future, though. When can you expect the changes? By the end of August.

SOURCE: Business Insider