MoviePass’ parent company, Helios & Matheson, announced on Wednesday that it has an exclusive option to buy the film library and production slate of Emmett Furla Oasis Films, the production house behind 2013’s “Lone Survivor” and the upcoming John Travolta film “Gotti.”
Helios & Matheson plans to use EFO Films to launch its own production wing, MoviePass Films.
Helios would have a 51 percent ownership stake in MoviePass Films, with EFO maintaining 49 percent. Helios plans to use the studio to create and distribute more theatrical releases, which would be promoted through its MoviePass card system.
Terms of the deal, which comes as the company faces serious cash-flow issues, were not disclosed.
Helios & Matheson’s stock has been in free fall in recent months on concerns that the company is running short of cash on its heavy investment in building MoviePass’ subscriber base; two weeks ago the company reported it had less than $20 million in cash reserves.
The stock hit an all-time low of $0.40 last week, and stood at just $0.43 in early-morning trading on Wednesday.
The creation of MoviePass Films comes nine months after MoviePass announced a nationwide offer for a movie ticket per day for $9.99/month, and also comes the same week that another division of the company, MoviePass Ventures, prepares to co-distribute the Sundance heist film “American Animals.”
Lowe will be on the board of directors for MoviePass Films with Helios CEO Ted Farnsworth, with EFO heads Randall Emmett and George Furla serving as CEOs.
EFO’s upcoming film slate includes the Entertainment Studios release “Boss Level” starring Naomi Watts and Mel Gibson, as well as Martin Scorsese’s next film, “The Irishman” starring Robert De Niro, which will be released by STX Films.
“To have such a well-known, quality production company join forces with the Helios/MoviePass group of companies is truly remarkable,” said Mitch Lowe, MoviePass’ CEO. “Since we began disrupting the movie industry with our unprecedented low-cost movie theater subscription service, MoviePas, we have envisioned owning and developing our own studio content and using the power of our several million subscribers to bolster the success of the box office for our films.”
“I believe MoviePass Films will accelerate those efforts and demonstrate the power of MoviePass to drive movie theater attendance and downstream sales, for the benefit of moviegoers, movie theaters, studios and the film entertainment ecosystem as a whole.”