Sinemia launched four years ago in Europe and is now offering up some very low-cost options for movies tickets. For $4.99 per month, a user can get one ticket per month; for $6.99 per month, the amount goes up to two tickets per month; $9.99 per month nets two tickets per month, including 3-D, 4-D and IMAX showings; and finally, $14.99 per month gets a consumer three tickets per month, including 3-D, 4-D and IMAX movies.
“Not everyone really needs an unlimited moviegoing experience,” CEO Rifat Oguz told TechCrunch. “The average in the U.S. is four movies per year.”
Now, granted, Sinemia’s offering is still a bit more expensive then MoviePass, which gives users four tickets per month for $10, but those movies can only be standard films — not 3-D, 4-D or IMAX. (Although the company recently reinstated its wildly popular movie-a-day monthly subscription plan after briefly removing it online.)
The theaters from which Sinema gets it tickets are paid full price by the platform; the customer discount comes from advertising deals with studios and restaurants. But the balance remains lopsided as the app tries to attract more advertisers: 85 percent of the company’s revenue comes from subscriptions, with just 15 percent coming from advertising.
In the next 12 months, Sinemia hopes to launch its services in countries throughout Asia.
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MoviePass, incidentally, is suing Sinemia for copyright infringement, claiming the competitor app ripped off many of MoviePass’ features. Specifically at issue: MoviePass says Sinemia violated a patent pertaining to automatic authentication and one pertaining to a ticketing system.
The litigation in the case remains ongoing.
Oguz told TechCrunch that he was unconcerned and is grateful to MoviePass for popularizing the model. He’s looking forward to the ongoing competition.
