In possibly the most disappointing turn of events in what has been an incredibly awful string of disappointments from MoviePass, the once celebrated service sent an email to annual subscribers this week informing them that they would either have to accept the same new terms that apply to monthly members or cancel their subscriptions and receive a prorated refund. And before you ask, yes, MoviePass has the right to change its plans at any time.
For those of you who haven’t been keeping track of the myriad changes MoviePass has made to its monthly plan in the past several weeks, users are now only able to see three movies a month, rather than a movie every day. Also, the service only offers a limited number of titles, rarely including big recent releases.
“We want to thank you for being a loyal member of our annual MoviePass plan,” reads the email. “Your commitment to MoviePass has contributed to making our vision for an accessible and affordable moviegoing experience a reality. After experimenting with different models and options, we believe that our current monthly plan captures the need of our community — keeping prices low while continually striving to offer a wider selection of films.”
MoviePass has been doing everything in its power to stymie the rate at which it is losing cash, but it’s hard to imagine that unceremoniously killing off its annual plan with a week’s notice won’t upset a significant number of subscribers. MoviePass says at the end of the email that in order to make up for the change, it will “expand our offering of blockbuster and independent films so you can discover a wider variety of movies.”
MoviePass annual plan holders have until August 31st to decide whether or not they want to cancel and get a refund for the remainder of their plan, or stand pat and let their account switch over to the new plan.
