List of films with similar themes and release dates

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In the film industry, two or more films with similar plots or themes may be released within a close period of time. Sometimes, this may be coincidental as the result of two studios independently hoping to capitalize on a current trend.

Other times, however, a script will be bought and put into production by one studio, and a competing studio - which may hear about the production through word of mouth, trade papers (such as Variety), or through the internet - will put into production a film with a similar plotline, in an effort to capitalize on its box office potential.

Contents 1 2000s 2 1990s 3 1980s 4 1970s 5 1960s 6 1930s 7 Sources 8 External links 9 References

[edit] 2000s

• Robots (2005) and WALL-E (2008) are both computer-animated films starring robots.
• The Black Dahlia and Hollywoodland, both released in 2006 only a week apart, revolve around an unsolved homicide that both take place near or in Hollywood. Coincidentally, both are based upon true stories.[1]
• Over the Hedge and Open Season are both 2006 computer-animated films starring forest animals.
• Get Rich or Die Tryin', and Hustle and Flow were both released in 2005, and revolve around the rise of a rapper to stardom. 8 Mile also uses this premise, but was made three years prior, respectively.
• Both Akeelah and the Bee (2006) and Bee Season (2005) revolve around a little girl in a spelling bee contest.
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) and Requiem (2006) are both based on the life of Anneliese Michel. [2]
• Asylum (2005) and Notes on a Scandal (2006) are both British dramas about women of similar age who have an illicit affair at a public institution (respectively a mental asylum and a school) while being observed and manipulated by an older person. Both films were adapted from novels by screenwriter Patrick Marber, who has himself commented on the similarity between them. [3]
• Stranger Than Fiction in November 2006 and The Number 23 in February 2007. Both movies center on characters who believe a book is based on their own life, although Stranger Than Fiction portrays this as a dramedy and The Number 23, as a thriller. [4]
• Invincible, Gridiron Gang, and Facing the Giants, all movies about underdog football teams or players who rise above expectations, all released in September 2006. We Are Marshall also involves an underdog football program, recovering from a devastating plane crash, and was released a few months later in December.[5]
• Happy Feet (2006) and Surf's Up (2007) are both computer-animated films starring penguins. In 2005, the French documentary March of the Penguins, starring real-life penguins from Antarctica, had been an unusual box-office success in the United States.[6]
• The Illusionist and The Prestige, both released in 2006, are period films about magicians in turn-of-the-century Europe. [7] Magician Ricky Jay served as a technical consultant on both productions and briefly appeared on-screen in The Prestige. Strangely enough, earlier in 2006 Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson, stars of the film The Prestige, also starred in Woody Allen's Scoop, a modern-set film also involving murder and stage magic. Similarly, the 2007 film Magicians also follows two rival stage conjurors.
• Capote and Infamous, Capote was released in 2005 and Infamous in 2006. Both are independently produced films about Truman Capote writing his book In Cold Blood. [8]
• Æon Flux (2005) and Ultraviolet (2006), both films are about a dystopian future and share a similar stylized sleek setting. Powerful female leads try and undo the wrongs brought upon humanity by a powerful virus. [9]
• Madagascar (2005) and The Wild (2006), both featuring zoo animals navigating the terrain of New York City, and later being introduced to their natural habitat. Madagascar was successful financially and critically. The Wild, on the other hand, was lambasted and frequently compared to Madagascar, even though it was initially conceived before that film.[10]
• Sky High (2005) and Zoom (2006), both revolve around special high schools attended by superheroes. The setting is also reminiscent of the X-Men films, and Zoom was released within weeks of X-Men: The Last Stand.[11]
• The Cave, The Descent, both released theatrically in 2005, and The Cavern (originally entitled WIthIN before Sony Pictures altered the title to bank off the success of The Cave) on DVD in 2006. All three films involve spelunking and terrifying subterranean life that hunts down the principal characters. [12]
• Elektra (2005) and Catwoman (2004). Two films, both based on female comic book characters (from Marvel and DC, respectively) who have unsteady love/hate relationships with (more popular) anti-heroes. Both characters started out as villainesses, both were resurrected, then had spin-offs and adventures as "good characters". [13]
• Garden State (2004) and Elizabethtown (2005), both feature young men who are miserable in their career when they learn of a family member dying. They return home, fall in love with a woman, and grieve for their dead family member. They must decide whether to return to their life or settle down with their new found love. After initially deciding to go back to their lives, they both change their minds and pursue love.[14]
• Chasing Liberty (blasted as a bad retooling of Roman Holiday) and First Daughter, released in 2004, both center around the U.S. President's daughter seeking her personal freedom; both met with critical and box office disaster.[15]
• Finding Nemo (2003) and Shark Tale (2004) are both computer-animated films about fish on a quest. Both include a subplot about vegetarian sharks. Of the two, Finding Nemo was universally praised, while Shark Tale garnered criticism for its convoluted plot. [16] [17]
• Phone Booth and Liberty Stands Still, released in 2002, each involved a protagonist pinned to a specific location (a phone booth and hot dog vendor cart, respectively) by a sniper trying to impart their target with epiphanies about their flawed lives. [18]
• Mission to Mars, Red Planet, and Ghosts of Mars were all released in 2000 and 2001, and all have plots that revolve around the planet Mars.

[edit] 1990s

• Dark City (1998), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), eXistenZ (1999) and The Matrix (1999) all deal with existentialist themes and the concept of a false world. The Matrix even reused some of Dark City's sets.^{[citation needed]}
• The Truman Show (1998) and EdTV (1999) are both about people who spend their lives as a reality TV star (both films also happen to feature the actor Harry Shearer). Like the above films, The Truman Show also deals with a false world of sorts. EdTV received a lukewarm response from critics for what they saw as a lighter, less memorable take on the same idea.[19] While the Truman Show was critically acclaimed, and won awards.
• A Bug's Life and Antz, released in 1998, both are computer animated features with individualist ants in colonies under threat.[20]
• Deep Impact and Armageddon, released in 1998, were films that featured ensemble casts, both concerned a celestial body hitting the Earth, and both were major successes on a global scale. [21]
• Sliding Doors and Run Lola Run, released in 1998, explore parallel universes initiated by minor events in multiple scenarios, influenced by the work of Krzysztof Kieślowski. [22] [23]
• Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love, released in 1998, both are set in Elizabethan times with Elizabeth I as a main character. Strangely enough, both also star actors Joseph Fiennes and Geoffrey Rush. The two films competed for multiple Academy awards including Best Picture and Best Actress. As a rare moment in the Academy Awards history, two actresses received nominations for the same role in the same year: Cate Blanchett was nominated the Best Actress for the role of Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth, while Judi Dench was nominated (and won) the Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the same queen in Shakespeare in Love. [24]
• Prefontaine (1997) and Without Limits (1998), both centered around American runner Steve Prefontaine. [25]
• Dante's Peak and Volcano, released in 1997, both deal with people containing the eruption of a volcano. Dante's Peak was successful, while Volcano was a flop domestically. [26]
• Babe and Gordy, released in 1995, both deal with speaking pigs. Babe was a critical and commercial success, while Gordy was a failure in both arenas.
• Twister and Tornado!, both released in 1996, and both deal with tornado chasers in their line of work. Tornado! was a B-movie, while Twister was a huge box office success.
• Tombstone (1993) and Wyatt Earp (1994), both are dramatizations of the life of Wyatt Earp, his family, and their exploits in Tombstone, Arizona. [27]
• American Me (1992) and Blood In Blood Out (1993) are both films about California prison gangs as well as Chicano life in East Los Angeles. [28]
• 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, released in 1992, dealing with Columbus' discovery of the New World. These films were released to commemorate the 500th anniversary of this discovery. [29]
• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Robin Hood were both released in 1991. Kevin Costner starred in the former, and Patrick Bergin in the latter.

[edit] 1980s

• The Abyss, Deepstar Six, Leviathan, The Evil Below, and Lords of the Deep were all released in 1989 and are underwater thrillers involving explorers discovering strange new (and in most of the movies hostile) creatures in the ocean.
• The Secret of My Succe$s (1988) and Working Girl (1989) are both about people starting new lower-level jobs in New York City, pretending to be executives, coming up with great ideas regarding takeovers, and getting the girl/guy that was "out of their league."
• Big, Vice Versa, and 18 Again! (all released in 1988) and Like Father, Like Son (released in late 1987) portray youngsters who reverse roles with, or as, older men.
• An American Tail and The Great Mouse Detective both released in 1986 both Animated feature films starring mice. "An American Tail" gain a lot of praise and grossed more than "The Great Mouse Detective", which is still critically and commercially successful.
• Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Hamburger Hill (1987) all featured US soldiers in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Later Born on the Fourth of July and Casualties of War were both released in 1989, with similar Vietnam themes.
• Turner & Hooch (1989) and K-9 (1989) are both movies where a police officer gets a dog for a partner.
• Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and Valmont (1989) are both versions of the novel Les liaisons dangereuses.
• Weird Science, Real Genius, and My Science Project, which all debuted in August 1985, featured teens dabbling in mad science and winding up in over their heads. In all three, central character(s) are nerds who are trying desperately to fit in with the popular crowd.
• Two competing 1984 films featured the destruction and difficulties of American farming families. Country starred Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard, while The River starred Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek.
• Porky's, The Last American Virgin, Screwballs and Losin' It were all released in 1982 and 1983. All four are sex comedies depicting a group of young male friends trying to lose their respective virginities or perform another sexually related mission.

[edit] 1970s

• Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Shaft were released two months apart in 1971. Both are frequently credited as the earliest examples the blaxploitation genre.
• The Gambler and California Split portray Jewish protagonists, addicted to gambling on a downward spiral. They were released two months apart in 1974.
• The Conversation and The Parallax View are paranoid thrillers about an assassination that were released in April and June of 1974.
• Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar, released within months of each other in 1973, are both adaptations of Broadway musicals based on the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Superstar, the darker, more rock-oriented piece, was more successful from both critical and financial standpoints than Godspell.[30][31]
• Cannonball and The Gumball Rally, both released in 1976, about the same illegal cross-country race. (Also inspired the 1980s Burt Reynolds' movies, The Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II
• John Boorman's Leo the Last and Hal Ashby's The Landlord were released in the United States a week apart in May 1970. Both deal with issues of class and race and feature an upper-class white man who moves into a lower-class black neighborhood and gets involved with the residents.[32]
• The Strawberry Statement, Getting Straight, The Revolutionary and R.P.M. are all dramas about campus revolt released between May and September of the year 1970.[33]
• The Warriors and The Wanderers are both 1979 films about gang wars between New York teenage street gangs of various ethnicities. The films have somewhat similar titles and share several minor actors and crew members.
• Bloody Mama (1970) and The Grissom Gang (1971) are both based on the life story of Ma Barker, although only the first film refers to Barker by her original name. Both take place in the American South of the 1930s and feature a gang of criminals led by a domineering mother.[34] Big Bad Mama, a more fanciful retelling of the Barker myth would follow in 1974. See 1930s nostalgia films.

[edit] 1960s

• Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove and Sidney Lumet's Fail-Safe were both released within months of one another in 1964 and deal with the concept of accidental nuclear war, although Dr. Strangelove is satire, while Fail-Safe is a drama. Dr Strangelove was originally slated for release in November 1963 but was postponed due to the death of President John F. Kennedy.
• Two films based on the life story of Jean Harlow were released in 1965, both titled Harlow. One version was released in May 1965, was directed by Alex Segal and starred Carol Lynley as Harlow and Ginger Rogers as her mother. The other was released in June, was directed by Gordon Douglas and starred Carroll Baker as Harlow and Angela Lansbury as her mother.
• You're a Big Boy Now (1966) and The Graduate (1967) are offbeat comedies about late-blooming young men simultaneously rebelling against their parents and being torn between two women. [35]

[edit] 1930s

• John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) and John Cromwell's Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940). [36]
• William Wyler's Jezebel (1938) was reportedly created for Bette Davis when she failed to win the highly coveted role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). Both films were about feisty, independent Southern belles during the American Civil War. [37]

[edit] Sources

• IMDb - release dates, plot summaries, misc. details

[edit] External links

• Washington Post article If All This Seems Familiar, Well, It Should

[edit] References