The Insanity of MoviePass: A History

[@pumpkinspicetrashbag]

Man, not only was this such a fun retrospective and deep dive, but it really made me remember how much I loved and miss SJU/Fandom Entertainment!

[@MichelleStreisand]

Same. Good times.

[@me45116]

The SJU haydays were something

[@halane4790]

Ruth and Dan were such a power pairing 😭

[@captainschnapps2471]

I love when Dan, Roth, & Spiny are together 😁

[@zachary5845]

Dan should do a video where they have an SJU reunion of some sort.

[@ianlister7333]

I dont know how open Dan is to talking about it, but this might be the best "look back at the studio era of Screen Junkies" we ever get. Covid really did a number on that industry. All that talk of a new studio and whilst we might have seen it, you never saw anything NEW from it.

[@natasha1537]

Now Dan just reminded me how much I miss the og SJU crew. I used to complain that the holiday break was too long of a time without a fresh episode. It's still hard to believe it doesn't exist at all anymore.

[@benzaiten933]

what actually happened there, Honest Trailer still exists?

[@TheNamekianClown]

​@benzaiten933 After covid they basically only did Honest Trailers Commentaries for a few years. It was down to just Spencer, Lon and Danielle, and due to the strikes Danielle stopped being in them as well, until a few months ago when those just stopped happening too. Now they literally only do Honest Trailers weekly and some other things occasionally like By The Numbers, and nothing else. No on screen personalities at all. I think a large part of it was Roth, Dan, Joe and Billy leaving in relative quick succession. No offense to Spencer and Lon but they were always the more cynicle members, and it became a drag watching only them and you could feel the change in the Honest Trailers themselves too.

[@zirconic9]

There are some channels that do something that vaguely looks like this, but they're not as good. Drinker's After Hours is just a bunch of middle-aged white guys complaining that movies have too many black people and girls in them, and the John Campea Show is dominated by John and only becomes interesting when he lets Robert Meyer Burnett talk, and the other guys on the show are dumb as rocks. There's no actual discussion.

[@rachelh2816]

I know. Now even honest trailer commentaries doesn’t exist

[@arthand7672]

​@@benzaiten933the best lineup(in my opinion) was Dan, Roth, Spencer and Joe. I feel like when Roth stopped coming on the show and Dan left, it felt like the two parents left and it was just the kids rambling without supervision. I have checked out ht commentaries a few times since but it doesn't seem to be any better. They just seem so aimless and cynical without Roth or Dan to ground them

[@b3films]

So much nostalgia for the old SJ days with these clips. Great mini doc.

[@tusharg8452]

Back then my daily fix was SJU's panel discussion. This was a bittersweet reminder. Good times.

[@backpackerraden6268]

It's wild how two of Dan's most notable traits (bashing MoviePass and Toni Collette in Hereditary) were in the same calendar year

[@DanMurrellMovies]

I used MoviePass to see Hereditary the second time!

[@backpackerraden6268]

@@DanMurrellMovies we would expect nothing less

[@lizk2378]

Don't forget his hatred of Jurassic Park sequels and Transformers (I still watch those old commentaries, Dan rants on JP are some of my favorites). Though always will be the Movie Fights Champion.

[@ericsilva-gomez2481]

MoviePass and Toni Collette were in Hereditary? Just kidding

[@jim1242]

Also was this the year of the legendy honest trailer commantry on Jurassic World, Fallen Kingdom

[@kstepko]

I miss Screen Junkies News … but you can’t go back again. Tuning in to watch Dan, Roth, Spencer, and Joe debate the news of the day with Ed, Danielle, Lon, Billy, Sasha, etc. filling out the panel was THE BEST - at least for us as viewers. So glad you have your own channel today, Dan, so we can still benefit from your insights.

[@MrNightie]

Calling critics “trolls beyond a keyboard” when you’re creating new accounts to artificially pump up your own movie is peak projection.

[@jointjunkieslangards]

Only caught the tail end of the Movie Pass drama on SJU. Really miss the team over there. Real sad when they took down Honest Trailer Commentary as well. I know it wasn't nearly as popular as the main show, but you're right. There's just something about a bunch of movie fans just talking about movies that is really entertaining to some of us, and you just don't have a lot of that now.

[@HelloMisterJAMWAH]

I still check for the commentaries every time in the vain hope they might return. Such a sad incremental demise.

[@FestArc]

Seeing Roth brought me back.

[@gidget1337]

I miss Roth!

[@stevehope4572]

Same

[@aidangreen7006]

How can someone even make a definitive MoviePass documentary without featuring Dan? Literally just splicing in chunks of a video made this way would add so much. It was indeed a crazy time. EDIT: Also, anyone reading this: AMC Stubs A-List is 1000% worth it, and is everything I think MoviePass wished it had been. I have a weirdly strong brand loyalty to A-List… I saw TENET 23 times in IMAX back in 2020 for basically $40 just because A-List is so fairly priced and easy. Recommended.

[@mikkolaunis2556]

How can someone make a definitive MoviePass documentary without mentioning Chloe the Director of Barketing.

[@griswoldclark6835]

The documentary included campea of all people

[@TCReyes]

@@griswoldclark6835Insulting to include Campea but not Dan

[@griswoldclark6835]

@@TCReyes totally agree

[@erikdaniels0n]

@@mikkolaunis2556maybe Chloe wasn’t included cause she wasn’t available for interview

[@TheOneWithTheManyZs]

This really reminded me how much I miss the days of you guys sitting together on SJU trying to make sense of these insane movie news stories unfolding.

[@HarrisHalabi]

Don't be sad it's over, be glad "Hereditary" was released in the window where Dan was subscribed.

[@hendrikbareno7426]

I see Moviepass and Dan Murrell, I click like and watch with popcorn

[@georgemckay7795]

Watching Dan slowly lose his mind covering Movie Pass is why I am subscribed to this channel. It was an amazing journey

[@JonniD]

😁😆😅 In Atlanta, "[THEATER] IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH MOVIE PASS. WE CANNOT ASSIST YOU IF IT IS NOT WORKING" signs were common in theaters during this era.

[@MichalDraker]

Seeing you and Roth together again, my heart🥹 the memories are flooding in 🥹💖

[@thebortthe]

All the SJ flashbacks make me remember how much I loved the round table film shows of old.

[@ZachBobBob]

I miss when peak movie discussion on KZbin was SJU and Collider instead of now which is all right-wing grifters ruining everything.

[@thebortthe]

@@ZachBobBobAMEN

[@DwRockett]

“The gotti incident” that title manages to perfectly capture the insanity lmfao

[@DJ-wl5qo]

Working at a theater when this was happening was PTSD inducing. I never want to see a red credit card again

[@mathsalot8099]

This era of Screen Junkies/Fandom cemented my love for Dan, and is a big reason why I am here today!

[@drewmur]

Comment before watching: I'm so looking forward to this. Dan vs MoviePass has such a rich history.

[@coreyross9881]

The nostalgia is strong on this Sunday morning.

[@tornapart]

I miss Screen Junkies and Mostly Screen Junkies News so much! It has left a huge nerdy hole in my life. I have literally 0 people that I can talk to when it comes to movie news so having Screen Junkies was always the highlight of my day back then! Thank you Dan for all those years! ❤

[@thebortthe]

“I’ve been looking forward to this!”

[@Molson-xg9hs]

Still can’t believe we had a MoviePass documentary without Dan or Chloe the Director of Barketing. Appreciate you doing this as the rapid rise and rapid fall of MoviePass was fascinating to watch and you were a big part of watching the tides change. The trailer for this doc on KZbin had a lot of people saying they hoped you would be included. Ah well, there’s still hope for a Dumb Money-style narrative movie where they can cast you!

[@purekinema]

I watched 27 movies in 7 months with Moviepass. I watched six movies in theaters in the previous year (2017) and zero in 2016. Moviepass got me obsessed with watching movies in theaters, and in particular learning to appreciate watching smaller dramas in theaters and not just big spectacles. I watched 30 movies in theaters in the past year, mostly through AMC A-list.

[@Antonio_Ortiz]

They wanted 20% of concessions? That was the cherry on top as far as impossibilities.

[@Ryan125y]

It might have worked. If they got a bulk of people and then blocked out AMC. AMC would have to make a deal with moviepass.

[@Bruester]

​@@Ryan125y Those are straight-up mafia tactics lmao, I don't think that would've held up for very long

[@Ryan125y]

@@Bruester 100%, how much would a premier movie pay, to simply not have competitors tickets sold on Friday and Saturday night

[@joemckim1183]

@@Ryan125y AMC was never going to give in. AMC wanted to set up their own AMC A List service. They knew that Moviepass would eventually die out and a lot of those people who were now used to using a movie service woud just jump over to A List instead.

[@jayhartRIC]

@@joemckim1183it always made more sense for the theaters to make their own subscriptions and cut out the middle man.

[@kitlc1]

I can’t believe the Movie Pass debacle was so short. Hearing that it was only a “year and a half” is astonishing. I watched this play out on SJU as it happened and it felt twice as long at the time! I hope Chloe of Barketing is doing well, wherever she is now.

[@parakathepyro]

I worked at an AMC movie theater during MoviePass, after about a month our managers told us that MoviePass wanted us checking everyone's IDs to confirm they matched the card but everyone ignored that because MoviePass wasnt our boss and our actual bosses didnt really care.

[@doctorpalmer]

Great deep dive into this story. Movie Pass holds a special place in my heart. I met my wife in the Fall of 2017, and as a young broke couple, MoviePass gave us cheap dates on the daily, and after movies, we would sit in the theater and just talk about the movie, which led to discussions about life. We saw 64 movies in theaters during 2017-2018 and out of this environment, we fell in love, and got married in 2018. Today, I love my life, my marriage, my wife, and our 3 children. MoviePass dates were somewhat foundational for us. Thanks Mitch Lowe!

[@KingofCrusher]

"trust me bro, true story!" lol.

[@iamokayiswear]

I was watching SJU after high school every day during this era. I'm Canadian and was a minor at the time so could never use movie pass, but just wanted to say thank you for the joy you gave me, watching this Saga thru your eyes. Charts with Dan and the Moviepass Saga really shaped my interest in the business side of Hollywood that persists to this day. I'm glad you're still going and I hope you continue to be a voice of reason amongst the insanity that is show biz

[@Internatube]

Watching Dan fight against the scam moviepass back in 17-18 was what made me subscribe to him today.

[@MustardAndFries]

Technically it was private equity scamming itself

[@allye9865]

Feeling nostalgic for the old Screen Junkies cast with these clips

[@deanwright1609]

Fun video Dan. Thank you.

[@jamiemcdonaldisjamie]

ah the nostalgia of your time on screen junkies! great video as always

[@RafCole]

So nostalgic after watching this video. Man I miss the OG crew of ScreenJunkies. Those were some fun days. I'm missing Dan's Rants 😛. Remember The Meg and Cats countdowns???? Soooo funny stuff between Dan and Roth.

[@12srr]

I loved following Screen Junkies News every day on my lunch break, and being a long for the ride during the Movie Pass saga was a real highlight! As soon as I saw this video pop up, I was so excited, and eagerly awaited another glimpse of the famous Chloe, Director of Barketing! Really miss the old SJU crew. It got me through a very tough time in my life with fun, interesting stories, and the laughter and camaraderie on screen was such a joy to me and many other loyal viewers. ❤

[@Exiled_Rouge]

The current revamped Moviepass is terrifc. If you live in a city where premium tickets are $24 per, it comes out to like $10 or less per ticket with the new Moviepass.

[@SwiftheartRainbow]

But wasn't there some weird marketing thing where they wanted access to see if your eyeballs were actively watching ads or something? Or was that a fever dream I had? That was the one thing I was hoping would come out of this video. What is the current situation with movie pass now and is anything shady going on?

[@MysteryMii]

@@SwiftheartRainbowThat was something they showed off but I don’t think was ever implemented.

[@SwiftheartRainbow]

@@MysteryMii thank God because it sounded creepy

[@Exiled_Rouge]

@SwiftheartRainbow Uh, no. It works like a discounted ticket. You get X credits per month to see a movie, the credits rollover if you don't use them, and are able to purchase credits ala carte as well. Comes out to about $10 per movie in credits. It works right inside Fandango, Atom, AMC, and Regal apps. A preloaded master card essentially. There are no ads or anything. The physical card is just a branded Master Card. But you can just scan your phone too.

[@philopharynx7910]

I have gone to A-list and I'm fine with this. But have they improved the app? Do they still have dark red on grey text?

[@rebeccabee4718]

This just made me realize how long I've been watching you! I remember watching all of this in real time. Thanks for years of entertainment Dan!

[@ryanb3665]

The Moviepass coverage was what got me into Screen Junkies, box office news, and your Charting with Dan show. It was an absolutely wild time, sandwiched between the two massive Avengers films. It came at a time in my personal life when everything around me was feeling just as surreal and unbelievable, and y’all’s reaction to the shared insanity gave me a lot of comfort and laughs. Long live Chloe, Director of Barketing, and may she enjoy a tail wagging retirement at a company or home that truly appreciates her skills.

[@chrisfox6843]

Such a wonderful time, I knew it wouldn't last but I ended up seeing every movie made that year in theaters. Most days after work I would just head out and watch a movie, didn't care what it was just go in and watch.

[@Doubleaspeaks]

Man those screen junkies clips made me nostalgic as hell, peak KZbin film content for me. I remember waiting for Sundays for the fights and stuff and i used to drive uber while playing these in my background and that paid for my whole college life lol.

[@zachreed3042]

I’m gonna say what we’re all thinking, Dan is the best creator on KZbin. So detailed, informative, interesting, relatable. Love the work, please keep it up!

[@K0m30ng]

Seems like movie theatres in America are way more complicated than the ones in my country. I think if I go to America someday, I gotta try this AMC Theatre and MoviePass thing 😂😂😂

[@Im_Ish]

We Americans are so lazy that we need a scam to get us out of the house and watch a movie.

[@vrettos_sphicas]

Perhaps the real Movie Pass was the friends we made along the way

[@zirconic9]

And the lesson of Moby Dick is "Be yourself."

[@israfel070]

honestly I'm here for the video essay era. It's like what an hour of legacy television could have been but without the adbreaks

[@Ggollly]

Every time my buddy and I used our Moviepass cards we would cackle with laughter when the payment went through. We would go see at least one movie every week, normally two or three, and each and every time we expected the card to get declined. Every time it worked it felt like we were stealing even though we were just using it as intended by the company. Good year.

[@Michael-xp7gw]

the movie pass saga is the gift that keeps on giving. I was an avid watcher of SJ/SJU and remember the reporting when MP first launched and I saw the interview with Mitch and all the subsequent reporting. The biggest contribution MP made was the years of entertainment value in witnessing this saga. I have no idea what is going on with SJ/Fandom these days. The only thing left seems to be Honest Trailers. We're not even getting the commentaries anymore, which was my favorite part of HT. Is Roth still interested in film? I liked the dynamic you two had when doing reviews. Would be neat if you did the occasional partnering with Roth or Lons or someone else to have a good discussion on a film.

[@D21BeastReviews]

I miss Screen Junkies News so much. I watched/listened every day. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Dan!

[@aidanmchutchison567]

Someone’s gotta do a doco on the epic fail of Quibi soon (which should also be shot in the 16:9 Snapchat ratio just for shits & gigs), loved reliving your MoviePass saga Dan, love your work!

[@aflameinthevoid8047]

What a glorious few months of people like us making off with a company’s money for once as opposed to the other way around …with that company’s blessing!

[@80q25]

I was working at a small independent theater during the rise & fall of moviepass. The theater was near a number of retirement communities, & moviepass was a big hit, but when it began to "randomly" not work these geezers turned their wrath towards us! They thought we were doing something wrong, we would let some of them in for free hecause we felt bad. So I guess in a small way moviepass' strongarm tactic did work...

[@katiedrago1961]

Thank you so much for this! You brought me so much joy at the time, and it was hilarious to rewatch clips 😂

[@LycorisThe]

When your CEO says "eventually we will make money" but can't give you a projected timeframe... bad sign.

[@closeben]

his explanation literally being that they were dependant on customers keeping their subscription when it wasn’t worth the value to them is insane.

[@JohnBainbridge0]

I have been waiting for this video for SO LONG! Thank you for this, Dan!

[@benfromthebunker9621]

Absolutely amazing video.

[@Rachel_Owens]

It's so heartwarming and also bittersweet to see all the comments reminiscing on the old SJU days. What a great couple of years in my life when five-days-a-week I could look forward to a live morning show that was celebrating nerdy things in pop culture and also taught me so much about the movie industry. The chaos of it being live every day was probably brutal from a production standpoint, but what a fun show and crew! ☺️

[@erikstevenson8508]

Like everyone else, I think this was a super fun overview of the insanity of MoviePass but was also a fun look back at some of the highlights from the SJU days!

[@kaemmerphotography]

I watch you report on this story live. One of my favorite stories you followed to the end. Miss the old screen junkies show. ❤

[@Skater4Christ22]

Thanks for doing this Dan. Brought back some good memories of you and the Screen Junkies crew, plus the wild day to day Moviepass saga. I appreciate your perspective and how you touched on aspects the documentary left out.

[@samsaek666]

The movie pass days were something else… I remember going to the movies one Saturday during the heyday and there was a crowd so big they were elbowing each other in the lobby. As soon as I saw that I knew this was just a matter of weeks. Even knowing how credit cards work and understanding how you can basically buy anything you want as long as it’s with that merchant… truly FILLED with loopholes

[@smurfswine7463]

Man, seeing all these old SJU clips hits hard. I love Dan, but I also miss Dan with all his friends

[@jimshmee]

Been watching since those wonderful SJ News days.. i remember using movie pass to see MI: Fallout 8 times in theaters because it didnt cost me a dime 😂 was a nice escape from the 110⁰ heat. Thank you for all your hard work, Dan!

[@OmegaRejectz]

These type of Dan videos are great!

[@lavallepresenta]

Since the documentary came Up I've been waiting your video! Thanks dan!!!

[@ayubsalim1303]

The long-promised video is here.

[@pettespizzaparlor3245]

This is awesome. I was LITTERALY talking with a co-worker about movie-pass last Tue. And explaining how everything i knew came via Dans reporting on SJU. The conversation started because of the dog, head of barketting. Next time we have lunch, i am making her watch this.

[@kerro6159]

I spent $90 to see “Murder on the Orient Express” …it was the only movie I could ever see locally 🤣…I still have my card. I used it to scrape ice off my windshield.

[@gbassman5341]

LMFAO Never Forget the Director of Barketing!

[@Sam-cv6un]

I have a distinct memory of watching the Barketing Screen Junkies episode the day it came out. That made my day, truly a wild ride.

[@Pokemonashgreen2]

Dan 7 years time flys. I been using A list since 2018 myself at my local amc theater. Movie pass was a fever dream.

[@seanian8986]

Dan, I have such happy memories of this whole fiasco being explained to me by you and the Screen Junkies crew

[@kstepko]

Bringing Cloé the director of Barketing onboard to try to save Moviepass reminds me vaguely of National Lampoon’s January 1973 cover that said, “If you don’t buy this magazine, we’ll kill this dog.”

[@Deoxys911]

It was really fun revisiting all these great memories of watching the ScreenJunkies coverage of the wild story of MoviePass.

[@bernadmanny]

I was there watching Dan and Roth's brains explode in real time. I also miss Dan gathering around with friends at Screen Junkies and talking about movies.

[@titanguy7316]

Seriously, this is one of your best videos Dan. Thank you.

[@tonydiebold4899]

Oh man… I remember this real time. So funny to watch this rehash. Thanks Dan for reminiscing with us.

[@jabrak1]

I remember following this with you guys back in the day. These clips really make miss the old Screen Junkies

[@DavidJHunter-xj3tt]

Hell yes. A blast from the past finally getting its due on your channel.

[@justinealexandre2448]

I really appreciate your personal perspective on Movie Pass, because it really WAS such a personal event. I have my own anecdotes with friends - debating with one friend if it was a scam, seeing one friend's app crash while mine worked, reacting to Chloe from Barketing as it happened....! And it was really great to see the old SJU clips. Another blip of Movie Pass was how there was a time when they were trying to get so many people to sign up because they wanted to collect data and then sell it to movie theaters or movie production companies (whoever would buy), but no one would buy unless they had enough people - but then no one would buy because those theaters and production companies already have that data. Movie Pass was always DOA, but it was a glorious time for the consumer.

[@jacstonebaby]

Thanks for the reminder of how crazy this was. I had to pay that extra six bucks to see Mission Impossible 6 and I’d totally forgotten. What a weird service, but for a couple months it was the best thing i’ve ever experienced.

[@andeekumar2817]

Dan your channel is awesome man

[@DanMurrellMovies]

Thank you!

[@PranavanathanYoganathan]

One of my favorite things was to listen to you all bash movie pass on screen junkies.

[@gabrielgarbow3784]

It was a wild ride. My husband and I went to a couple movies almost every week for the year-and-a-half that MoviePass was functional. It almost made it more fun knowing the whole time that this thing couldn't last, and just seeing as many movies as possible until it flamed out.

[@bryanmoody2251]

Oh how I miss SJU! Thank you for all the years of content Dan.

[@chet_inator_gator]

Even though the movie pass era was pretty recent, your retelling gave me nostalgic chills - wish I kept my card like you! I don't have any funny stories but living in NY with ridiculous ticket prices movie pass was a blessing. It also helped me support a local theater (I wouldn't have gone to otherwise bc it's pretty run down), but like being on the fence about any movie - I'd still go bc movie pass was paying for it baaaabyyyyy

[@julietracy7507]

Ohhh I miss SJU and the banter between you all. Good to have the memories and the whole story with movie pass. I also had it and used it all the time.

[@travisspazz1624]

The movie had a Campea cameo but not Dan!! WTF?!

[@ZadnoleyaEdits]

I was 17 and new to movie critique when I started watching Dan and Roth roast Movie pass. I just turned 24 and what a ride it's been following you. Cheers!

[@Kelemchrist]

MoviePass is peak SJU Lore

[@sflute123]

I followed this in real time and it was so fun to revisit with you. Movie pass run my dog was always my favorite title card on SJU

[@mark2graves-movies689]

I love this story. What a crazy chapter in the book of the theatrical business model

[@JonathanSpinell]

I remember following the Mission Impossible debacle, MoviePass’ app had this literal ad: “Mission Impossible. That's what getting your entire extended family to the movies can feel like. It's a group project, requiring methodical deliberation and planning.” I took a screenshot because it was just so…yeah

[@echocheck]

Excellent video, Dan.

[@WaitintheWings]

The moment I showed up at a theater and all I could see was Mamma Mia 2, I cancelled my account.

[@forbiddenbiblicalknowledge7076]

I followed you all through the saga, and rode moviepass as long as i could.

[@NickMichalak]

I do miss seeing you, Roth, and everyone else chatting about absurd movie news. I remember you guys covering the ridiculously macho feud between Tyrese and Vin Diesel.

[@LuMagic19]

Hi Dan. I kept a spreadsheet for the year I had moviepass tracking what I would have spent. I paid $115 for a year subscription upfront and spent $733.84 on movies that year using my moviepass card. I had made my money back like 2 months in. What a time that was!

[@ZacPensol]

I knew this video would get me nostalgic for the days of MoviePass, but maaaaan did it hit me in the feels missing Screen Junkies in its heyday.