• by Wayne Friedman , August 6, 2018

A new consumer pricing plan for MoviePass -- the beleaguered monthly subscription service -- will drastically lower the number of movies for consumers, but looks to give the service some new financial life.

Instead of consumers being allowed to see around 30 movies a month -- one per day for $9.95 -- a new plan will limited consumers to three movies a month for $9.95. The plan also includes an additional $5 discount for any extra movie tickets.

Previous reports suggested MoviePass would be raising its one-movie per day service from $9.95 to $15.

MoviePass says this lowering of movies still works for many of its consumers, stating: “Only 15% of MoviePass members see four or more movies a month. We expect the new subscription model will have no impact whatsoever on over 85% of our subscribers.”

MoviePass has a little more than 3 million subscribers -- up from 500,000 a year ago when it dropped its $50-a-month price to $9.95.

MoviePass also says it will suspend peak pricing and ticket verification for subscribers who have migrated to the new plan. Peak pricing is where MoviePass may charge a surge price in certain regions.

Ticket verification means each time a movie ticket is purchased, consumers are asked to upload a photo of their ticket stub.

MoviePass, the majority-owned subsidiary of Helios and Matheson Analytics, has been hit hard financially -- including a stock price hovering at or below $1-a-share trading on Nasdaq. That means it is in danger of being de-listed from the exchange.

Ted Farnsworth, chairman/CEO of Helios and Matheson Analytics, stated: “One year and 3 million plus members later, it has become clear that a small number — only 15%— of the subscriber base has been stressing the system.”

MoviePass buys movie tickets from theaters at full price and packages it to consumers, where a debit card is used at theaters to see movies.

The company says: “The new plan addresses past misuses, which imposed undue costs on the system, including ticket scalping, unauthorized card usage and other activities.” Recently, MoviePass consumers had difficulty seeing the big summer blockbuster movie “Mission: Impossible -- Fallout.”

MoviePass' theatrical subscription service in the United States is available at 91% of the theaters.