MoviePass Beta Goes Nationwide, Tests a New Unlimited Plan

The new MoviePass is expanding its beta nationwide, and is considering bringing back the hallmark “all you can watch” plan that made it famous… just this time at a higher price than $10.

The nationwide beta is currently available to anyone that signed up for the service’s waitlist last summer. MoviePass CEO Stacy Spikes told Insider that those joining the beta may experience some glitches that engineers are working on, and a wider relaunch is expected this summer. CNET has reached out to MoviePass for further comment, but Spikes announced the expansion with a YouTube video sent to the waitlist.

“We previously opened in 10 markets, but now we’re letting everyone [on the waitlist] in nationwide,” Spikes said.

This new version of MoviePass uses a credit-based system instead of flat-rate pricing, with plans varying based on geographic region. The New York City-based plans that I’m able to see start at a $20 Basic level for 68 credits, which MoviePass says should translate to one to three films per month. The most-expensive plan offered is the $60 Pro level, which MoviePass says should allow for one movie per day under the equivalent of 1,240 credits. Unused credits will rollover, up to a maximum of two months’ worth based on the selected plan. Outside of New York, MoviePass says its cheapest plan could appear as low as $10.

For New York, these prices aren’t bad. It’s not unusual for one movie ticket to cost $17 or more in Manhattan, so even getting two films out of the service is still a discount. However since the service is in beta, it’s worth keeping in mind that these prices could still shift as the service heads towards its eventual wide release. 

While the $20 starting price undercuts rival services in New York for an occasional theatergoer, someone looking to go upwards of three or more times a week to a specific theater could be better served looking into the programs owned by movie theater chains like AMC A-List ($25 in New York), Regal Unlimited ($24) or Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass ($30). Yet it’s also worth noting that MoviePass does allow access to a much wider variety of theaters, using either the app to get tickets for MoviePass-partnered theaters or the MoviePass credit card for theaters that aren’t partnered. Spikes told Insider that pricing for its unlimited tier is being tested at a variety of levels during the beta.

The nationwide expansion is the latest step towards the rebirth of MoviePass, after Spikes purchased the brand in November 2021. MoviePass famously flamed out in 2019 after burning through money when it offered a $10 unlimited plan. Spikes helped found MoviePass in 2011 with partner Hamel Witt, where the service went through iterations that included a $50 per month unlimited plan at one point. Spikes was fired from the company in 2018 when it was helmed by then-Helios CEO Ted Farnsworth and then-MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe. Now that Spikes is back in the driver seat for MoviePass, he has mentioned that plans for the service include integrating an optional advertising program to subsidize costs further for a customer and eying the metaverse as a possible area for MoviePass to grow.