MoviePass Secures $100M To Expand Its Fantasy Box Office Game
MoviePass, a Black-owned subscription-based movie ticketing service, has secured a $100 million capital commitment from Global Emerging Markets’ Token Fund to expand its new fantasy gaming platform, Mogul. The game, which launched this month, is currently in beta mode.
Mogul allows players to predict box office results, per-screen averages, and awards successes for films, all while taking the role of a studio executive. Users can also compete in tournaments, head-to-head matchups, or play solo. MoviePass says it’s similar to a fantasy sports league, according to Variety.
Who can play Mogul?
The game is free to join and play, but eventually, the intention is that Mogul players can compete for money. There are currently 400,000 people on the waiting list, with the exception that this will increase to 200,000 users by the end of May.
“We’re letting people enter in waves in order to not completely overwhelm the system,” Stacy Spikes, co-founder and CEO of MoviePass, said.
About MoviePass
MoviePass was launched in 2011 by Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt. It allows subscribers to buy one movie ticket daily for a monthly fee. However, after the company struggled with funding, Spikes was replaced as CEO by Mitch Lowe, a former Redbox and Netflix executive. In 2017, Helios & Matheson bought a controlling stake for $27 million. Spikes was fired in 2018, and Watt was also let go.
Lowe and Helios & Matheson cut MoviePass’s monthly subscription cost to $10, boosting membership to over 3 million by 2018. However, financial issues led to its shutdown in 2019 and bankruptcy in 2020.
In 2021, a New York bankruptcy court allowed Spikes to reacquire MoviePass. Spikes relaunched MoviePass last year and became profitable for the first time in the company’s history.
The company credits much of its growth to AI and machine learning, which make it easier for customers to use the service and find cheap showings. In 2024, it received an equity investment from Forecast Labs, a consumer venture group owned by Comcast.
Photo credit: George Kerrigan
