MoviePass and its parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics have declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy that is, they’re dissolving instead of trying to restructure under Chapter 11. Accordingly, the CEO, CFO and remaining board members have all resigned. While that may sound like it signals the complete end of all things MoviePass, there’s one interesting the company may owe subscribers a total of more than $1.2 million.
“As a result of filing the Petition, a Chapter 7 trustee will be appointed by the Bankruptcy Court to administer the estate of the Company and to perform the duties set forth in Section 704 of the Code,” reads a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That means MoviePass’ assets will all likely be sold off in an attempt to pull together the money it owes customers for unused services, as MoviePass was actively charging users up until it suddenly shut down last September.
According to The Wrap, MoviePass may owe $1.2 million to roughly 12,000 subscribers, or $100 each. It’s not clear if that group includes a certain class of MoviePass subscriber, like an annual user that was precharged for the service prior to its shutdown, or if that was the total user base of MoviePass at the time it closed its doors.
At one point, after dropping its price to a dangerously low $9.95 a month in the summer of 2017, MoviePass amassed around 3 million subscribers. But many of those users fled after the company began doing everything it could to restrict how its service could be used, because its unlimited plan in its original form was directly contributing to immense company-killing quarterly losses.
