Have you ever noticed two seemingly identical movies being released at the same time and wondered why Hollywood studios would do such a thing? While you may have first chalked it up to mere coincidence, a quick scroll through the list below suggests otherwise.
Earlier this week, Redditor CircadianHour compiled a list of ‘twin movies‘. As to why? Another commenter (tossedsaladandscram) suggests that competing studios often own similar movie scripts and if one studio gets wind that another is making a movie that is similar to a script they own they may try to make it and put it out earlier or around the same time.
A secondary reason, suggested by Ducksaucenem, implies the benefits of shared marketing and buzz, especially if Studio B has a smaller budget. Interestingly, this could be why studios prefer to buy exclusive rights to comics and graphic novels, so other studios can’t replicate the storyline.
Coincidence or not, below is a list of strangely similar movies released around the same time. Any suggestions for additional ‘twin movies’ please let me know in the comments!
[via CircadianHour on Reddit]
1. Armageddon | Deep Impact – 1998
2. Babe | Gordy – 1995
3. The Prestige | The Illusionist – 2006
4. Chasing Liberty | First Daughter – 2004
5. Volcano | Dante’s Peak – 1997
6. Antz | A Bug’s Life – 1998
7. Turner & Hooch | K-9 – 1989
8. Olympus Has Fallen | White House Down – 2013
9. Friends With Benefits | No Strings Attached – 2011
10. Shark Tale | Finding Nemo – 2004/2003
11. Mirror Mirror | Snow White & the Huntsman – 2012
12. Red Planet | Mission to Mars – 2000
13. Top Gun | Iron Eagle – 1986
14. Capote | Infamous – 2006
15. Happy Feet | Surf’s Up – 2006/2007
16. Abyss | Leviathan – 1989
17. Stealing Harvard | Orange County – 2002
18. Powder | Phenomenon – 1995/1996
19. Tombstone | Wyatt Earp – 1994
20. The Wild | Madagascar – 2006/2005
21. Striptease | Showgirls – 1996/1995
22. The Truman Show | EDtv – 1998/1999
23. The Cave | The Descent – 2005
24. Cop Out | The Other Guys – 2010
25. After Earth | Oblivion – 2013
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