Cinemark Movie Club Reaches 500,000 Active Subscriber Mark

It’s a happy holiday season for Cinemark, as the chain’s Movie Club subscription service has reached the 500,000 active user mark after approximately one year in existence.

Launched last December, CineMark Movie Club was the first subscription program to be launched directly by an exhibitor. For a monthly fee of $8.99, it lets subscribers see one 2D movie a month, with unused tickets rolling over and never expiring as long as the membership stays active. In addition, subscribers get 20% off concessions and a waiving of online fees, plus the option to upgrade to premium format (3D, IMAX, D-BOX, and XD) tickets. Subscribers also have the ability to purchase additional tickets for themselves and companions at a discounted price.

That 500,000 subscriber milestone more than doubles Cinemark’s projections for the program’s first year. Cinemark has found that subscribers visit their theaters more often than the average moviegoer, with tickets purchased through Movie Club representing eight percent of the chain’s third quarter domestic box office revenue. So far, Movie Club members have purchased 10 million tickets.

Unsurprisingly, other exhibitors have begun launching their own subscription programs. Last June, AMC launched A-List, an additional tier to their AMC Stubs loyalty card that allows moviegoers to see three movies a week for $19.95 per month; as of last October, that service had added 400,000 members. Last November, Showcase Cinemas launched their own subscription service, called Showcase Subscribe. And Alamo Drafthouse is dipping their toes in as well, testing out a “Season Pass” subscription service with a handful of beta users at their Yonkers, New York location. All of this comes on the heels of the slow dissolution of third-party subscription service MoviePass, which has faced several high-profile setbacks over the last year.

If Cinemark Movie Club’s success is anything to go by, more chains will be experimenting with subscription services going forward. Says Mark Zoradi, CEO of Cinemark, “The popularity of Movie Club continues to grow as more of our moviegoers recognize the value that our program provides.”

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