Alamo Drafthouse theaters will launch an unlimited movies plan this year

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is planning to launch what it calls the Alamo Season Pass, a MoviePass-style subscription service, nationwide by the end of this year. The company is already beta testing the program in a small selection of its theaters. “It’s working for us, and we love it,” CEO Tim League told Business Insider. “It’s one of our biggest priorities this year, to get that rolled out.”

In “most” areas of the country, the subscription will cost $20 per month and allow for unlimited movie screenings. But League said that it might cost a bit more in some markets like Brooklyn, New York. Here’s a list of all Alamo Drafthouse locations.

The Alamo Season Pass lets subscribers reserve their seats for a movie days in advance using Alamo’s mobile app. When they arrive at the theater, their ticket is automatically unlocked and they can head right into the movie, per this FAQ on the program.

Over 40,000 people signed up for the beta waitlist at the company’s Yonkers, NY theater in under a month, according to Business Insider.

Alamo is the latest theater chain to roll out its own unlimited subscription plan, a model that MoviePass took mainstream. But that service’s popularity was ultimately part of why it crashed and burned; MoviePass has constantly altered its subscription plans over the last couple years, set restrictions on how many movies customers can see each month, and at times blocked some popular films altogether. The company just brought back its unlimited plan — with several caveats that could easily lead to account suspensions or cancellations if customers aren’t careful.

Rival service Sinemia has also been criticized in recent months for abruptly canceling accounts without offering any explanation to those affected. So clearly this is a tough business to crack for third parties, giving theaters ample opportunity to create subscription plans of their own. AMC, Cinemark, and Cineworld have already done just that. It seems to be working well for AMC; the theater chain’s Stubs A-List plan has already proven popular enough to justify a price hike.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/20/18274372/alamo-drafthouse-season-pass-unlimited-plan-moviepass