AMC Challenges Moviepass With New Subscription Service

Starting at the end of June, AMC will be launching a monthly movie service in the vein of MoviePass called "Stubs A-List." Essentially, if you pay $20 per month, you can see up to three movies a week, plus other benefits which are intended to give Moviepass a run for their money.

MoviePass is a service which allows you to pay $10 per month in order to see one movie per day at whatever theater you want (most theaters participate). Although, there was a brief period when MoviePass took away the movie-a-day package that made them famous before quickly resuming the service. It was a smashing success when it came out a few years ago; so much so that the company had some difficulty keeping up with the number of subscribers it acquired in a short period. The service seems to have given other entertainment companies some ideas.

AMC is one of the first companies to follow up on what MoviePass has done, but there are still questions as to whether it will give MoviePass much competition considering it costs $10 more and it only works at AMC theaters. That said, Stubs A-List does have some pretty key advantages over MoviePass.

Some of the elements that give Stubs A-List an edge include the ability to see movies in premium formats like 3D, IMAX, etc. and the lack of limitations on seeing a movie more than once. Also, because it's specifically an AMC service, it comes with the benefits of AMC premium which include discounts on snacks and tickets. There is also no physical card, just an app to download which could be better or worse depending on your personal preference. The glaringly obvious advantages that MoviePass has over "Stubs A-List" are that it's half the cost and you can see movies at whatever theater you want.

MoviePass and AMC have feuded in the past over specifics regarding MoviePass access to AMC theaters and even went so far as to take some AMC theaters out of the MoviePass cache. Despite their complicated past, AMC denies that they're throwing down the gauntlet in front of MoviePass and instead told The Verge, "We understand the comparison, but we’re focused on our own program and on delivering the very best, most reliable movie-going value option in the entertainment industry, which is what we believe AMC Stubs A-List provides to our guests."

AMC's Stubs A-List launches June 26, and it should be interesting to see how it does in comparison to Moviepass.