MoviePass made quite the splash back in 2017/18 when it launched a $10 unlimited movie theater service and then quickly made changes that led to insolvency. Now after going bankrupt, one of the founders has repurchased the company with potential plans to relaunch the service sometime next year.
Reported by Insider, MoviePass co-founder Stacy Spikes has confirmed that he has repurchased the company after it went bankrupt and is looking into bringing it back to life.
“I can confirm that we acquired MoviePass out of bankruptcy on Wednesday,” Spikes said in a statement to Insider. “We are thrilled to have it back and are exploring the possibility of relaunching soon. Our pursuit to reclaim the brand was encouraged by the continued interest from the moviegoing community. We believe, if done properly, theatrical subscription can play an instrumental role in lifting moviegoing attendance to new heights.”
As it turns out, Spikes was fired from the company back in 2018. Notably, he had shared concerns about the $10 price point for an unlimited movie theater service as being unsustainable to then HMNY CEO Ted Farnsworth and MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe.
It looks like Spikes may have been able to repurchase the company at under $200,000 while parent company HMNY estimated its value after bankruptcy between $1-10 million.
Though Spikes would not disclose the amount, he said his bid was lower than the $250,000 minimum the trustee set in 2020. Customer data and email addresses were not part of the sale, Spikes said.
Interestingly, Spikes already launched a new website where people can sign up for updates on when the revived service will launch.
What do you think? Are you interested in MoviePass take two? Or are you happy to pay per movie when you go?
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