MoviePass says you'll be able to see IMAX movies with your subscription by Labor Day
- MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe told Business Insider that subscribers will be able to order non-2D movies (like IMAX and Real 3D) through the app by Labor Day.
- The added charge will be $2-$5.
- Lowe also said that surge pricing will be nationwide by the end of July.
In the wake of MoviePass launching surge pricing to its subscribers, ranging from $2-$6 on popular movies on the weekends, there's now some much-needed good news coming from the monthly movie ticket subscription service: you'll get to see IMAX movies with MoviePass soon.
In a conversation with MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe on Wednesday, he told Business Insider that by Labor Day there would be a feature added to the app that allows subscribers to select, for $2-$5, the option to see non-2D movies like IMAX or Real 3D.
Currently, MoviePass only allows its subscribers to see standard 2D movies.
"Imagine you're a customer and now you can go to what typically might be a $17 or $18 ticket for an extra $5 [to your subscription]?" Lowe said to Business Insider. "That's going to be extremely valuable."
If you are living in a major market like New York or Los Angeles, it's going to be a welcome sight. In New York City, seeing a movie in IMAX or Real 3D ranges from $20-$24 per ticket, so even if the added price is as high as $5, for MoviePass subscribers (who are generally paying $10 a month), it's a good deal.
Lowe also said that a bring-a-friend option, which he said they have been testing for some time with e-ticketing partners, will likely be rolled out at the same time as the premium IMAX pricing. Lowe added that if the friend you bring becomes a MoviePass subscriber within 24 hours of going to the movie, the ticket you paid for that friend on your MoviePass will be refunded.
This all comes on the heels of MoviePass' announcement of implementing peak pricing to popular movies. The feature was rolled out for the first time in a handful of cities this past weekend and charges the MoviePass subscriber extra for seeing a movie the company deems popular at a specific showtime. Lowe said by the end of July it will be everywhere MoviePass is available in the US.
Each month, a subscriber is allowed to waive one peak fee.
Lowe suggested the best way to avoid the surge price is to see popular movies with your MoviePass on weekdays.
"Our whole mission is to reenergize the occasional moviegoer, those people who were only going four or five times a year, now they are going nine, ten, twelve times a year with MoviePass," he said. "They will likely not have a surge pricing because every customer gets one free pass a month. If you go once a month you won't pay a surge price. It's only if you go more than once and you happen to go to a film that may be within surge pricing on a given weekend. So if you see a movie on a Tuesday, the same film that on a Friday may be under peak pricing, you won't have that charge."