MoviePass officially hits one million subscribers
The once-struggling subscription movie service, MoviePass, has officially hit a milestone Wednesday, announcing it has surpassed one million paying subscribers.
The New York-based startup has increased its subscriber base by over 6,500% over the last five months, since slashing its monthly fee in August from $50 to $9.95.
MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe released a statement saying they’re excited to reach this level in such a short time while “still early in the consumer adoption curve.”
The million-plus subscriber base is a far cry from the 20,000 paying consumers the company had acquired since it launched in 2011.
The uptick in recent months has been driven by an influx of capital after it sold a majority stake to data firm Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc. (NASDAQ:HMNY) for $27 million in August. The firm later upped its investment to $28.5 million in October and then $100 million in November.
Lowe says he believes growth will continue as his company continues to develop its application and improve its customer service experience.
In September, MoviePass struggled to meet consumer demand after it first slashed its prices. The company released a statement saying “the response has been overwhelming” and “we’ve tripled the size of our team” in order to meet the new demand.
Helios and Matheson Analytics said that it projects that MoviePass will acquire at least 2.5 million customers over the next twelve months, and retain at least 2.1 million of those at the end of the period.
Ted Farnsworth, CEO of Helios and Matheson Analytics, told FOX Business earlier this month that it is also actively looking at expanding to new markets such as Saudi Arabia, after the country lifted its ban on public movie theaters for the first time in more than 30 years.
“[It’s] a total game changer for the movie theater and entertainment industry. Not only will the people of the country be allowed to experience international talent, the lifted ban will also allow the people of Saudi Arabia to tap into their own creativity. It is our hope to see more domestic and independent films coming out of the country – films that will peek into the culture of Saudi Arabia. In terms of expanding MoviePass’s reach, we are actively looking at expansion throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia,” Farnsworth said.