Moviefone is an
American-based moving pictures listing and information service. Moviegoers can obtain local showtimes, cinema information, film reviews, and advance tickets, as well as TV content and a comprehensive search tool that allows users to find theaters, channels, and streaming services offering movies and television shows. The service is owned by Born in Cleveland LLC, Cleveland O'Neal III's holding company. O'Neal is creator and producer of ''
Made in Hollywood'' syndicated daytime entertainment show.
History
In 1987, in Manhattan Beach, CA, Doug Hoitenga conceived the idea and business model for moviefone, and shortly thereafter compiled a founding team. In 1989, Doug Hoitenga, along with
Russ Leatherman, Rob Gukeisen,
Andrew Jarecki
Andrew Jarecki (born March 24, 1963) is an American filmmaker, musician, and entrepreneur. He is best known for the Emmy-winning documentary series ''The Jinx (TV series), The Jinx''. He is also known for the documentary film ''Capturing the Fr ...
, Pat Cardamone, and Adam Slutsky launched the interactive telephone service, with initial service in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Leatherman provided the voice of "Mr. Moviefone" for the automated phone service. After gaining popularity, the service later expanded across the United States and eventually adopted an online presence as Moviefone.com.
In 1999,
AOL purchased Moviefone for $388 million. The acquisition was completed on May 21, 1999.
In 2001, Moviefone entered into a partnership with
MovieTickets.com that crosslinked their ticketing offerings; by 2004, Moviefone's online arm was acquired outright by MovieTickets.com. However, in 2012, Moviefone announced a partnership with MovieTickets.com's rival
Fandango
Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...
.
On February 23, 2014, it was reported that Moviefone would be shutting down its call-in service and its "777-FILM" phone number, but would maintain its mobile app services.
On May 5, 2014, Moviefone was relaunched with a new look, an expansion into TV content, and a comprehensive search tool that allows users to find theaters, channels, and streaming services offering movies and television shows.
On April 5, 2018,
Helios and Matheson Analytics, the majority owner of the movie ticketing service
MoviePass, announced the acquisition of Moviefone from
Oath Inc. for $1 million in cash and $8 million in stock.
In early 2020, Helios and Matheson went bankrupt in deep controversy over multiple changes to the MoviePass service, and at that point had one employee, Matt Atchity, handling Moviefone. The company was worth just $4,379,504, or about 1% of the 388 million when it was purchased by AOL. ''Made in Hollywood'' Producer Cleveland O’Neal III purchased Moviefone out of bankruptcy in March 2020 via his holding company, Born in Cleveland LLC.
In popular culture
In the ''
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...
'' episode, "
The Pool Guy" (season 7, episode 8), the character
Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to simply by his surname, is a fictional character in the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998) played by Michael Richards.
The character is loosely based on comedian Kenny Kramer, Larry David' ...
receives
misdialed calls meant for a parodied Moviefone after getting a new
phone number.
In an episode of the TV series of
Dilbert
''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satire, satirical office humor about a White-collar worker, white-collar, micromanagement, micromanaged offic ...
, the
Pointy-haired Boss
This is a list of characters that have appeared in Scott Adams' ''Dilbert'' comic strip.
Primary characters
Dilbert
The main character in the strip, Dilbert is a stereotypical technically-minded single male. Prior to October 2014, he was usua ...
confuses Moviefone with an automated hotline for checking his stocks, being frustrated that trying to check his
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
stock leads to buying tickets to a horror movie.
In an episode of
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
,
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, activist, and author. Deafness, Deaf since she was 18 months old, Matlin is known for her portrayals of deaf women, and for her activism on behalf of deaf individuals in Cinema of the ...
attempts to call Moviephone in "I Dream of Jesus" in order to hear showtimes for
The Last Mimzy, but ends up purchasing tickets to
300
__NOTOC__
Year 300 ( CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1053 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 300 ...
because of her impaired speech.
In the 2001 film ''
Josie and the Pussycats'', Mr. Moviefone is the voice of subliminal advertising messages planted into pop music by an ominous record agency.
In the 2023 film ''
Beau Is Afraid'', Moviefone can be seen in a shot of Beau's recently called contacts.
References
External links
*
* List of U.S. states with Moviefone local numbers.
{{Verizon Media
American film websites
Information by telephone
American companies established in 1989
Internet properties established in 1989
Companies that filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2020
2018 mergers and acquisitions
2020 mergers and acquisitions