PEORIA — The latest breakthrough — or disruption, depending on the vantage point — in moviegoing has arrived and is accessible at the majority of central Illinois movie theaters.

MoviePass, a subscription-based company founded in 2011, allows customers to attend one 2D movie a day for a flat monthly rate. Up until mid-August, that rate varied from $30 to $50 — a bargain for the avid moviegoer but not a fee the average person would be inclined to purchase.

But in a remarkable move last month, MoviePass dropped its subscription fee to $9.95 a month, causing subscriptions to skyrocket into the hundreds of thousands. That's nearly the cost of one adult ticket for an evening showing at most movie theaters.

Most theaters in Peoria and the surrounding area accept MoviePass ticket purchases. The notable exclusions are the Giant Screen Theater, which only shows three to four new releases a year, and New Vision Showplace 14 in Pekin, which recently changed theater companies and doesn't yet have a partnership with MoviePass. But that could change in the near future.

"I know it's been talked about and still could happen," said Maggie Berry, general manager at Showplace 14.

The merits of the subscription service, its longterm viability and what it means for movie going are a topic of debate, however, among the theater managers in the area.

AMC Theatres, the largest movie theater operator in the country, released a forceful statement on Aug. 15 describing MoviePass as "a small fringe player," saying it cannot embrace the service and that it is working with lawyers to "determine whether it may be feasible to opt out and not participate in this shaky and unsustainable program."

But at the present, tickets can still be purchased through MoviePass for the corresponding AMC movie theaters in the area, Grand Prairie 18 in North Peoria and Sunnyland 10 in Washington. In fact, most experts in the movie business are skeptical of how AMC will go about blocking MoviePass purchases. As Landmark Cinemas general manager Zach Washburn explained, the MoviePass preloaded card is a Mastercard brand and the system doesn't distinguish that card from any other credit or debit card the theater accepts.

"It's a Mastercard just like any other one," Washburn said.

In its public statement, AMC also argued that the MoviePass model not only harms moviegoers and theater chains but MoviePass itself, saying that the company "will be losing money on every subscriber seeing two movies or more in a month." Chris Dungan, a manager at Goodrich Willow Knolls 14, agreed on that latter assessment and predicted a subscription change at some point.

"I look for them to adjust that $9.95 price in the future," Dungan said.

But he and several other theater managers expressed optimism about the service. Washburn thought it was a great strategy on the company's part to garner more subscribers and thinks his theater will only benefit from moviegoers saving money on ticket prices.

"Someone gets to the movie and says, 'I still have a pocket full of cash, I'll get some snacks,'" Washburn said.

Berry also expressed some doubt about the longterm viability of the current price plan but welcomed any attempt to get people into the movie theater. According to a recent Chicago Tribune article, the past few months were the worst attended summer movie season in 25 years. Even with its flaws, Dungan echoed the praise of strategies that attract more moviegoers.

"Anything that gets people to see these movies on the big screen is a good thing," Dungan said.

Thomas Bruch can be reached at 686-3262 or tbruch@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasBruch.