# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/41 "2005-07-16T05:31:22Z")
“Dangerous Liasons” and “Valmont,” less than a year apart, both based on the same novel. Little known fact: Stephen Frears and Milos Foreman were both finishing these movies at the same editing studio at the same time. Desperate for the first release date, they’d solder eachother’s film cans shut, slip ex-lax into the other’s coffee, sneak a cow into the other’s office, etc. All true! ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/42 "2005-07-16T07:04:24Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Weird Science and Real Genius both were released in 1985. One’s a movie about geeks who accidentally create the perfect woman using their computer. The other’s about teenage geniuses at a special university. Amazingly similiar! > [@Tarrsk](#): > > The film adaptations of _Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorceror’s Stone_ and _The Fellowship of the Ring_ were released within two months of each other in late 2001. Both made massive amounts of money. One’s an epic about the destruction of a powerful magical ring. The other’s about kids at wizard school. Amazingly similiar! ---
**Author:** ![mickymazda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@mickymazda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mickymazda)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/43 "2005-07-16T17:47:48Z")
‘Snatch’ and ‘Shaft’ opened the same week in Western Australia. Different stories, but an interesting combination of titles (if you’re into pathetic sexual innuendo) ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/44 "2005-07-16T18:17:45Z")
[Brokedown Palace](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120620/) and [Return to Paradise](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124595/) came out, not in the _same_ year, but close enough. Both about Westerners getting caught up in the legal systems of two Asian countries. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/45 "2005-07-16T18:27:21Z")
> [@Slithy Tove](#): > > Little known fact: Stephen Frears and Milos Foreman were both finishing these movies at the same editing studio at the same time. Desperate for the first release date, they’d solder eachother’s film cans shut, slip ex-lax into the other’s coffee, sneak a cow into the other’s office, etc. All true! Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/46 "2005-07-16T18:52:31Z")
Slithy Tove: “whoosh” ArchiveGuy “Ha! My ‘cite?’ was the woosh!” We’re through the whooshing glass here, people. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/47 "2005-07-16T23:55:47Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Weird Science and Real Genius both were released in 1985. As was _My Science Project_. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/48 "2005-07-17T01:03:31Z")
Well some of these movies hardly have the same plot. But as Cartman would say,‘What’s the big fucking deal, bitch?’ Movies are products. They are made by competing companies. Have you noticed how Pepsi now comes with lime just like coke? Or how everybody sells hiphugger jeans now. Plus, every product a hollywood studio makes is well know to the public. They are never a secret like the Segway. Even in the early development stages. If studio A hears that Studio B is going to make a “Giant Space Object threatens the Earth” movie they will consider making their own. Oh, and BTW that is about all Deep Impact and Armageddeon have in common with each other. Finding Nemo and Shark Tale? They were both in the ocean and had fish. 1492 and Columbus both came out in 1992. Gee, I wonder why they were made to come out that year? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/49 "2005-07-17T01:22:02Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Damn you, ArchiveGuy! > > at least I named the principle actors… No, you did not, sir. You named the principal acors. Actors and principles do not mix. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/50 "2005-07-17T01:38:22Z")
How 'bout two big-budget Hollywood movies about WW II that were out at roughly the same time? _Saving Private Ryan_ and _The Thin Red Line_ . ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/51 "2005-07-17T02:03:51Z")
_Broadcast News_ and _Switching Channels_ were released within a few months of each other – perhaps too far apart to satisfy the conditions of the OP, but I remember full-page ads for _Channels_ the same week _News_ was released, as if to say, “HEY! Forget that James L. Brooks masterpiece, wait a few months and watch our crappy knockoff instead!!” _1984_ was released in October, 1984…a few weeks later, Ronald Reagan was re-elected. Coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/52 "2005-07-17T02:53:09Z")
Ed TV and the Truman Show were released relatively close to each other. Both were about a regular guy who’s life is televised. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/53 "2005-07-17T05:45:05Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > The 13th floor. > Dark City. > The Matrix. Dark City and The Matrix even used some of the same sets, IIRC (waste not want not, I suppose) ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/54 "2005-07-17T05:47:19Z")
Oh, and while I don’t think they had much in common, lots of folks seemed to think that [Wing Commander](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131646/) was ripping off [The Phantom Menace](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915/) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Scarpia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@Scarpia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarpia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/55 "2005-07-17T06:23:14Z")
**Antz** and \*\*A Bug’s Life \*\* in 1998. **Babe** and **Gordy** in 1995. ---
**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 19, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/56 "2005-07-19T14:07:57Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > You mean as mentioned in the OP? :smack: I knew I read it somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/57 "2005-07-19T17:31:22Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Oh, and while I don’t think they had much in common, lots of folks seemed to think that [Wing Commander](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131646/) was ripping off [The Phantom Menace](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915/) :rolleyes: Ummm, yeah… Maybe those people just think that all Sci-fi movies are copies of each other if set in space, because I can’t figure out what they mean. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/58 "2005-07-19T17:53:36Z")
TNT aired its Patrick Bergin-Randy Quaid version of FRANKENSTEIN a few months before the Coppola-Branaugh-DeNiro movie. There was talk about another DRACULA at the same time as Coppola’s. Also, same time as THE MESSENGER, I think Randall Wallace was trying to do a Joan of Arc pic, possibly with Mira Sorvino. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/59 "2005-07-24T02:41:19Z")
While the movies have nothing else in common, both **Sexy Beast** (2000) and **Donnie Darko** (2001) have the main characters visited by the apparition of a scary-looking, man-sized bunny rabbit. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678/60 "2005-07-24T04:31:27Z")
> [@Sunshine and Smiles](#): > > Ed TV and the Truman Show were released relatively close to each other. Both were about a regular guy who’s life is televised. Although one was about a guy who lived his entire life on TV unwittingly, while (IIRC) Ed TV was about an adult volunteering to be on TV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-similar-movies-that-premiered-within-weeks-of-each-other/312678.md?page=4)