MoviePass Ups Price, Restricts Films In Hopes Of Staying In Business

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- If you are a subscriber to MoviePass, it's likely you did not see Tom Cruise jump out of a plane last weekend.

The troubled movie subscription service locked out subscribers from seeing many blockbuster films like "Mission Impossible - Fallout" because of its financial problems. That is even though users are paying a monthly fee to see a movie a day.

Now, the company has announced it is raising the monthly rate from $9.95 a month to $14.95 within the next month and first run films opening on 1,000 or more screens will be limited in their availability for the first two weeks, MoviePass said Tuesday. It is not clear just how "limited" those films will be to users, but the company did say that big films will be made available on a promotional basis.

Despite the monthly price increase and movie restrictions, analysts have questioned whether it can stay in business. The stock of MoviePass' parent company, Helios and Matheson, has fallen more than 99-percent since last fall. It closed Tuesday at 50 cents.

MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe, however, is optimistic about the company's future.

"Today, the company has implemented several elements of a long-term growth plan to protect the existing community and set it up for future sustainable growth," he told CNNMoney in an email.

MoviePass is hoping the price hike will stem the bleeding. It has been blowing through $20 million to $40 million each month, according to regulatory filings.

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