MoviePass Becomes Profitable for First Time, Citing AI's Help Since Relaunch

MoviePass is now making money since its relaunch last year, with the movie ticketing service announcing Tuesday that it has achieved its first profitable year in its history.

The milestone is particularly notable when viewing MoviePass' original life and flameout in 2019, during which the service burned through money while offering a $10 per month unlimited plan. The relaunched service hasn't yet revealed subscriber numbers, but it's also announcing that 1 million movie tickets have been purchased through the service since the first quarter of 2023.

MoviePass now runs on a credits based system that subsidizes the price of movie tickets, particularly for less popular showtimes. In my hands-on with the service last year, that largely tracked, with the system offering the most savings when I attended weekday showings but largely identical pricing to a movie theater when going to a new movie on a Friday night. MoviePass CEO Stacy Spikes noted in the announcement that the system is bolstered by artificial intelligence to further incentivize attendance by lowering credit prices for subscribers.

"Reaching this pivotal milestone highlights the powerful impact of our AI and machine learning enhancements from the previous business model, while continuing to drive value for members and boosting attendance for partners profitably," Spikes said in the announcement. "But we could not have done it without the support of our MoviePass community."

MoviePass recently added support for a virtual card and online movie ticket purchases, with plans to expand into allowing for Imax screening purchases later this year. While MoviePass supports most movie theaters by allowing subscribers to make purchases with its card, the service now competes against similar subscriptions offered by movie theater chains, such as AMC's A-List, the Regal Unlimited service and the Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass.