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Post by Admin on Sept 13, 2019 20:28:19 GMT
deadline.com/2019/09/moviepass-shuts-down-1202734166/MoviePass Shutting Down, Parent Company 'Unable To Predict If Or When...Service Will Continue' It’s over. Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY), the parent company of MoviePass announced today that they’re pulling the plug on the famed monthly movie ticket subscription service which offered unlimited tickets for $9.99/a month. HMNY today said that it formed a strategic review committee comprised of 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. Today, MoviePass notified its subscribers that “it would be interrupting the MoviePass service” effective Sept. 14 to because its efforts to recapitalize MoviePass have not been successful to date. “The Company is unable to predict if or when the MoviePass™ service will continue. The Company is continuing its efforts to seek financing to fund its operations. There can be no assurance that any such financing will be obtained or available on terms acceptable to the Committee,” read a press release. more…
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Post by Admin on Sept 13, 2019 20:31:24 GMT
www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/moviepass-shut-down-1239587MoviePass to Shut Down 1:04 PM PDT 9/13/2019 by Erik Hayden The app once boasted 3 million subscribers at its peak, but shuffled through multiple pricing plans and faced several technical issues that stalled momentum. The curtains have closed on MoviePass, the once influential theater subscription service that offered its users unlimited movies per month for a flat fee of $9.95. The service, run by CEO Mitch Lowe, will shut down seemingly for good on Sept. 14, its parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc, said on Friday. The firm said that "efforts to recapitalize MoviePass have not been successful to date. The Company is unable to predict if or when the MoviePass service will continue." The app once boasted 3 million subscribers at its peak, but shuffled through multiple pricing plans and faced several technical issues that stalled momentum. The shuttering of the app wasn't a surprise, as MoviePass went offline over the July 4 holiday for what was described as several unspecified "improvements" to the service. And MoviePass' app rival Sinemia shut down its service in the U.S. in late April, citing insufficient funding. Major theatrical exhibitors, however, found some takeaways in MoviePass' pioneering business model. AMC's Stubs A-List subscription plan, launched in June 2018, now boasts more than 900,000 subscribers. Theater giant Cinemark says it has 800,000-plus members for its Movie Club and Regal Cinemas launched its own Unlimited subscription plan in June. Specialty chain Alamo Drafthouse also recently launched its similar Season Pass subscription service in June. It is unclear how MoviePass' shuttering impacts indie production company Emmett Furla Oasis Films, which the firm acquired in June 2018. Helios and Matheson said Friday that it "is continuing its efforts to seek financing to fund its operations," but added, "There can be no assurance that any such financing will be obtained or available."
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Post by Admin on Sept 13, 2019 20:34:14 GMT
variety.com/2019/digital/news/moviepass-shuts-down-1203335464/MoviePass Shuts Down, With Parent Company Citing Failure to Raise Funds By TODD SPANGLER MoviePass, the long-struggling theater subscription service, finally appears to be down for the count. On Friday, MoviePass notified all of its remaining subscribers that it would be shutting down the service effective Sept. 14, 2019, because “its efforts to recapitalize MoviePass have not been successful to date,” parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics announced. “The company is continuing its efforts to seek financing to fund its operations,” the statement said. But, it added, “The company is unable to predict if or when the MoviePass service will continue.” In addition, Helios and Matheson said its board has commenced a review of strategic and financial options, including a potential sale of the company in its entirety or a business reorganization. Just before the July 4 holiday, MoviePass said it was suspending service for several weeks in order to fix technical issues and finish work on a new version of its app. In August it claimed to have restored service to “a substantial number of our current subscribers.” Meanwhile, last month MoviePass confirmed that a security issue may have left customers records exposed online, including credit card info. For 2018, Helios and Matheson’s net loss more than doubled, to $329.3 million, on revenue of $232.3 million, according to its most recent financial filing. The company took a $38.5 million write-down for the third quarter of 2018 related to the impairment of goodwill in the MoviePass business, and it said it expected to record an impairment charge of $35.9 million for Q4 for MoviePass. MoviePass in August 2018 eliminated the one-movie-per-day plan, priced at $9.95 per month — an offer that evidently proved to be economically unsustainable — replacing it with a new $9.95 plan letting subscribers see just three movies each month. This year, it rolled out a refashioned “unlimited” option, for $14.95 per month, to again allow customers to see one movie daily but warning that movie choices will be restricted based on “system-wide capacity.” Helios and Matheson is being investigated by the New York Attorney General, which is looking into whether the company misled investors. The company also is the target of a class-action lawsuit by MoviePass subscribers claiming the change in the “unlimited” plan was a deceptive “bait-and-switch” tactic.
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