Is MoviePass Back In Business? Countdown Clock Teases Comeback

The movie subscription service MoviePass may be coming back after going dark in September 2019.

The company's comeback is being teased on a new website featuring a countdown clock that says in just over five days, “the movie is about to start.”

Without any other information provided on the landing page, it is unclear what MoviePass’s intentions are with its suspected relaunch, but obviously, something is in the works.

According to Variety, the website launched on Tuesday and was registered anonymously on Feb. 7. No other details about the MoviePass reveal were provided at the time of writing.

Variety reached out to former MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe to see what the new debut from the company might entail, to which he responded in an email, “I have no idea. It has nothing to do with me.”

Other connections to MoviePass have also failed to provide any clues to what the reveal might include. The company’s Twitter account has been remiss in announcing anything new since June 2019.

Other avenues that Variety tried to explore also proved fruitless as the news outlet said that exhibition industry insiders said they have no knowledge of any upcoming plans for MoviePass.

Interestingly, Variety pointed out that MoviePass's countdown is well-timed with the recent reopenings of movie theaters in New York City and Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic after being closed for nearly a year.

MoviePass, which launched its movie subscription service in 2017, allowed customers the ability to see one movie per day for $9.99 per month. This membership was an affordable way for moviegoers to see one title in most cities without having to cough up hefty box office ticket prices, but the business model proved disastrous. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2020.

At the time and currently on its original website, the company has a message to its subscribers that reads, in part, “It pains us to inform you that effective at 8 a.m. E.T. on September 14, 2019, we must interrupt service for all current MoviePass subscribers. MoviePass will be providing subscribers with appropriate refunds for their period of service already paid for.”

MoviePass continued by saying, “At this point, we are unable to predict if or when the MoviePass service will continue...Although we do not currently know what the future holds for the MoviePass service, we hope to find a path that will enable us to continue the service in the future.”