# Amazingly Similar Movies that Premiered Within Weeks of Each Other **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678 "2005-07-15T17:43:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/1 "2005-07-15T17:43:54Z")
I’m talking only of movies with different directors/casts/studios and not back-to-back sequels. [Chistopher Columbus: the Discovery](http://imdb.com/title/tt0103962/) and [1492: Conquest of Paradise](http://imdb.com/title/tt0103594/) were both big budget films designed to cash in on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage. The first had the odd casting of Tom Selleck as a Spanish king (with a bloated Brando as Marlon Brando in a monk’s robe) while the second starred Depardieu. Both flopped. **A Bug’s Life** , an animated flick about a regular worker ant who becomes a great hero and marries the princess, came out in Summer 1998, as did **Antz** , an animated flick about a regular worker ant who becomes a great hero and marries the princess. ( **Antz** was better, at least imo.) **Deep Impact** , a big budget summer release about astronauts and folks on Earth trying to stop the destruction of civilization by a comet, came out just before **Armageddon** , a big budget summer release about astronauts and folks on Earth trying to stop the destruction of civilization by an asteroid. (I think the latter made more money but the former was way better.) Currently there are two multimillion dollar films in production about Capote’s research and writing of _In Cold Blood_. [One](http://imdb.com/title/tt0379725/) stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Capote while [the other one](http://imdb.com/title/tt0420609/) stars Dobby the House Elf as Capote and Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee. What are some other examples of jointly timed competing projects? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/2 "2005-07-15T17:48:59Z")
Wel;l, there’s **Rocketship XM** , which was rushed into production to compete with Heinlein’s **Destination Moon**. I’ve long felt that **Sword and the Sorceror** , a wonderfully awful sword-and-sorcery movie (what else?) that steals brashly from the works of Robert E. Howard was made to compete with Schwartzeneggar’s **Conan the Barbarian** , which legitimately took from Howard. Then there’s **Carnosaur** , with its dinosaurs created by incompetent DNA, released about the same time as **Jurassic Park**. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/3 "2005-07-15T17:50:03Z")
**Dante’s Peak** and **Volcano** , by about two months. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/4 "2005-07-15T17:51:49Z")
There were those volacano movies a few years ago - one with Tommy Lee Jones (_Volcano_, maybe?) and one with Pierce Brosnan, the name of which escapes me (and I’m too lazy to look it up right now). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/5 "2005-07-15T17:52:47Z")
**Tombstone** (1993, Russell) and **Wyatt Earp** (1994, Costner). ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/6 "2005-07-15T17:53:13Z")
Damn you, ArchiveGuy! at least I named the principle actors… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/7 "2005-07-15T18:13:51Z")
Weird Science and Real Genius both were released in 1985. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/8 "2005-07-15T18:14:51Z")
How’s about **Armageddeon** and **Deep Impact**? I seem to remember them being in the theaters at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/9 "2005-07-15T18:18:53Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > How’s about **Armageddeon** and **Deep Impact**? I seem to remember them being in the theaters at the same time. I seem to remember that too… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/10 "2005-07-15T18:18:55Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > How’s about **Armageddeon** and **Deep Impact**? I seem to remember them being in the theaters at the same time. You mean as mentioned in the OP? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/11 "2005-07-15T18:26:49Z")
**Mission to Mars** with Tim Robbins and **The Red Planet** with Val Kilmer both in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/12 "2005-07-15T18:36:41Z")
**The Abyss** and **Deepstar Six** both 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/13 "2005-07-15T18:48:36Z")
**The Incredibles** and **Fantastic Four** released within 9 months of each other. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/14 "2005-07-15T19:01:32Z")
[Robin Hood](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102797/combined) and _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_ in May and June of '91. The former went direct to TV instead of theaters so as not to compete with the bigger stars. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/15 "2005-07-15T19:05:32Z")
Though not released real close to eah other, _Finding Nemo_ and _Shark Tale_ were both within a one year span, I seem to recall. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/16 "2005-07-15T19:11:24Z")
> [@](#): > > The Abyss and > Deepstar Six > > both 1989. and don’t forget **Leviathan** and the novel “Sphere” (although the movie came much later). It was an undersea monster free-for-all, with only The Abyss being any good. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/17 "2005-07-15T19:12:53Z")
The TV version of **Titanic** (with George C. Scott) and the Cameron film **Titanic** – same name even. ---
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Haniver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Jenny\_Haniver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Haniver)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/18 "2005-07-15T20:11:22Z")
Even as we post, there are two productions of Beowulf currently filming - [one](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402057/) with [Gerard Bulter](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124930/), all around hottie last seen playing The Phantom of the Opera, and [one](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/) with a script by [Neil Gaiman](http://www.neilgaiman.com) and Roger Avary. The catch - one has the hot actor, and the other has the good scriptwriters but will be animated in the vapid, soul-clenching style of **The Polar Express**. Oh, the horror. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/19 "2005-07-15T20:14:01Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [Robin Hood](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102797/combined) and _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_ in May and June of '91. The former went direct to TV instead of theaters so as not to compete with the bigger stars. And was, IMESHO, a far superior film. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/20 "2005-07-15T20:36:41Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [Robin Hood](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102797/combined) and _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_ in May and June of '91. The former went direct to TV instead of theaters so as not to compete with the bigger stars. I remember being irked because slimeball mini-talent Kevin Costner was slamming the TV series as “boring” and “low budget” when pimping his own abomination. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678.md?page=2)