[vincentmarle]

In the Netherlands we have our own “MoviePass” (called Pathé Unlimited) started by the country’s biggest theater chain (Pathé) since the early 2000s, so the concept is definitely not new to us, I was actually surprised to learn that Cinemark didn’t have their own subscription model when I moved here since it worked really well in Europe (both for customers and for Pathé).

The reason why the model works for Pathé and not for MoviePass is because of 2 reasons:

- Pathé owns their own theaters, so they can run the subscription program at a loss, but make the money back with condiments sales because of the increased flow of visitors

- Pathé owns the most theaters in NL, there’s always one closeby. The subscription program is usable by the majority of the population because of physical proximity.

So for this to work in the US, the big chains basically need to offer this themselves. I hope that Cinemark will learn from MoviePass’s validation of the market (clearly there’s a huge demand) and undercut them by offering their own program. #lastmoveradvantage

[mattnewton]

S/condiments/concessions? Thanks for the take, that makes a lot of sense. Maybe movie pass will be bought / cloned by a theatre chain here.

[dethsesh]

If Regal bought moviepass and sent an email that everyone was now a "Regal Subscriber" for 9.99 a month I'd be completely happy.

[vincentmarle]

Yes concessions, sorry, my non-native-English brain knew it was con-something.

[nsomaru]

    s/condiments/confections

Why buy them out though? Implementing a subscription on top of an existing service isn't that hard, is it?

[kevinmchugh]

The userbase would be worth something. Buying the moviepass user database gives whichever theatre chain first crack at converting a bunch of frequent customers before their competitors can.

[jankassens]

It also appears to be EUR 20 per month. MoviePass is less then half that at USD 10. Often less then a single regular movie ticket.

[giobox]

And yet the 20 Euro one appears to have been a _sustainable_ business model.

Cineworld cinemas in the UK do a very similar offer, and again it costs roughly 20 Euros.

MoviePass pricing has always reminded me of the old adage, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.", especially when you consider they are paying full face value, which none of the European competitors I'm familiar with do, as they typically run both the subscription service and the cinemas themselves.

The more pressing question to me is why hasn't a large cinema chain in the US tried this model, when it is clearly working in many other foreign markets?