MoviePass Co-Founder Buys Back Company, Plans a Relaunch

MoviePass, the failed theater ticket subscription service, could be making a comeback. It's been reported that co-founder Stacy Spikes has been granted ownership of the company once more.

According to Business Insider, a Southern District of New York bankruptcy court judge has approved the sale of MoviePass to Spikes. It was previously owned by parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc., which closed the service down in September 2019 and itself filed for bankruptcy in January 2020.

In a statement, Spikes said, "I can confirm that we acquired MoviePass out of bankruptcy on Wednesday. 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."

Spikes also told Business Insider that he had been working since this summer to raise the money to regain ownership of MoviePass. The amount he paid has not been revealed, but Spikes stated it was less than $250,000 minimum that Helios and Matheson originally asked for.

When MoviePass launched in August 2017 it seemed like a movie lover's dream come true. For $10 a month, subscribers could see one movie a day--essentially up to 31 theater trips every month. But over the next year, the company was hit by a series of financial crises, and the constantly changing terms of its membership did little to stem its problems. The full extent of the controversial methods that MoviePass bosses allegedly tried to keep the service afloat, which included changing passwords to stop subscribers using it, was revealed shortly before it closed down entirely.