Just in time for one of the biggest movie releases of the decade, movie subscription service MoviePass has changed its rules to prevent paying customers from seeing the same movie multiple times. On Friday, MoviePass changed the Terms of Service for its app to prevent subscribers from using the service to see one movie multiple times in theaters, despite providing no warning or explanation. The new rule applies to future and current subscribers.
If you’re a subscriber, you will be greeted by a pop-up the next time you open the app alerting you to the change. Any movie you have seen before will be grayed out and you will see this message: “You’ve already seen this movie.”
MoviePass provided the following update on its support website to inform users about the new rule:
We recently updated our Terms of Service to reflect that MoviePass subscribers are only permitted to see a select movie in theaters once with your MoviePass. We hope this will encourage you to see new movies and enjoy something different!
The fact that this rule applies to all customers, including those who paid for a year subscription up front, is somewhat galling. MoviePass “reserves the right to change or modify the Service or subscriptions at any time,” according to its Terms of Service, but this seems like a great way to make a lot of people very angry.
And while MoviePass wouldn’t be doing any of this if its current model was sustainable, the fact that it’s happening at the same time as the unlimited service is dying is incredibly troubling. All signs point to the improbable dream of a $10 a month unlimited movie service having been nothing more than an illusion.
