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MoviePass, which is fighting to survive, just bought a film company. Heres why
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As Bloomberg reported, MoviePass, which helps feed peoples film habits by giving them movie theater passes for a monthly fee, recently dropped its monthly subscription price to $9.95... - photo by Herb Scribner
If all works in its favor, MoviePass wont just be a movie-per-day subscription service.

According to Variety, Helios and Matheson Analytics, the parent company of MoviePass Inc., acquired the option to buy Emmett Furla Oasis Films, which has produced films such as Mark Wahlberg's Lone Survivor and the crime drama End of Watch.

The deal would give HMNY access to the film production companys entire stock of films. Then, HMNY would rebrand MoviePass as MoviePass Films.

MoviePass Films would take ownership of the companys future films, which includes Asteroids an adaptation of the video game and Martin Scorseses The Irishman.

The acquisition comes as MoviePass faces a tremendous challenge to survive. HMNY's stock fell to its lowest levels last week, as analysts agree theres little to no value in the company since it doesnt have a significant amount of cash on hand.

In fact, HMNY announced last month it had $15.5 million cash on hand with $27.9 million on deposit with merchants, according to the Deseret News. Monthly expenses for the company hover around $21.7 million.

HMNY CEO Ted Farnsworth said the acquisition of EFO will help MoviePass survive.

This signals our long-term commitment to the movie business, he told Variety. Were here for the long haul.

The two companies will split ownership, with HMNY owning 51 percent of the MoviePass Films company and EFO Films owning 49 percent. The film company would create films for theatrical release and streaming services.

Since we began disrupting the movie industry with our unprecedented low cost movie theater subscription service, MoviePass, we have envisioned owning and developing our own content and using the power of our several million subscribers to bolster the success of our films, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe said in a statement. I believe this partnership with Emmett Furla Oasis Films will accelerate those efforts.

MoviePass previously made acquisitions to help the company grow and survive. It bought Moviefone back in April as a way to help people buy theater tickets. In January, it bought its first film while at the Sundance Film Festival, too.

Will this work? Gizmodo writer Rhett Jones isnt so sure.

It seems to be a relatively pragmatic company with profitable films, but its simply baffling that MoviePass is confident it can take on more liabilities while its core business is on such seemingly shaky ground, he wrote.