# Coincidental film releases **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956 "2013-03-04T01:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/21 "2013-03-04T09:54:02Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > Antz vs. Bugs Life? That one is notably [not a coincidence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antz#Rivaling_Pixar_and_A_Bug.27s_Life). ---
**Author:** ![Bibliothecarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bibliothecarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliothecarius)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/22 "2013-03-04T10:17:36Z")
Not a movie, but there was an episode of the shortlived _X-Files_ spinoff series _The Lone Gunmen_ that dealt with a government conspiracy to hijack an airliner and crash it into the WTC via remote control. It aired six months before 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![Mavic\_Chen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mavic\_Chen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavic_Chen)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/23 "2013-03-04T12:57:10Z")
The new [Judge Dredd](http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2521) movie is superficially similar to the movie [The Raid](http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2449) which was released about the same time. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/24 "2013-03-04T13:12:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > [Armageddon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon_(1998_film)) and [Deep Impact,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Impact_(film)) both released in 1998 and both about asteroids striking the Earth. No, no, no. Deep Impact is about a _comet_. Totally different. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/25 "2013-03-04T13:21:34Z")
The Abyss came out just after two lower budget rip-offs featuring mysterious undersea creatures terrorizing undersea installations: Deep Star Six and Leviathan. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/26 "2013-03-04T13:44:53Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > No, no, no. Deep Impact is about a _comet_. Totally different. You’re right! It’s the same as the major differences between **Dark City** and **The Matrix**! On TV, **Babylon 5** and **Deep Space 9** were very similar in general concept – a giant space station that’s at the center of intrigue by many alien races. There’s some debate as to whether they were coincidental or not. Actually, it happens often on TV when they imitate some successful movie. **Tales of the Gold Monkey** and **Bring 'em Back Alive** were two series from 1982 that tried to capture the success of **Raiders of the Lost Ark**. And, when Steve Speilberg was given carte blanche for **Amazing Stories** in 1985, other networks suddenly created anthology series (which hadn’t been on TV in a decade) like **The New Twilight Zone** and **Alfred Hitchcock Presents** ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/27 "2013-03-04T13:54:43Z")
The two Lincoln films last year? (The zombie one, and some other one.) This half-decade includes the 150th anniversary of Civil War era events, so maybe it’s not entirely a coincidence, but probably mostly it is. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/28 "2013-03-04T14:07:09Z")
_Weird Science_ and _Real Genius_ both came out in 1985. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/29 "2013-03-04T14:14:28Z")
[Prefontaine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119937/?ref_=sr_1) and [Without Limits](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119934/?ref_=sr_1) are both biopics about US distance runner Steve Prefontaine. They weren’t out at the same time, but they were released about a year apart. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/30 "2013-03-04T14:17:41Z")
**Dangerous Liaisons** released in December 1988 and **Valmont** the following November, both based on the same 18th C. novel, not a sequel (Dangerouser Liaisons?) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/31 "2013-03-04T17:20:28Z")
**Paul Blart: Mall Cop** and \*\*Observe and Report \*\*(2009). I think what happens is that a studios get wind of another similar topic and rush to get theirs out first. The compressed schedules contribute to the release dates being closer together. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/32 "2013-03-04T17:36:51Z")
Two movie versions of [A Doll’s House](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll%27s_House) were released in 1973. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/33 "2013-03-04T19:17:08Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Related to the title of the OP more than the spirit of the OP. > > The movie The China Syndrome, released shortly before Three Mile Island, was one heck of a coincidence. “Shortly” is putting it mildly. China Syndrome came out _twelve days_ before TMI. Life imitating art, with a vengeance. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/34 "2013-03-04T21:07:26Z")
Not exactly what the thread has in mind, but I was struck by the coincidence of _two_ fantastic movies released in 1984 starring Kate Capshaw as the heroine, in both of which she witnesses the Bad Guy reach into the chest of his victim _with his bare hand_ and pull out his victim’s heart. And the victim doesn’t immediately die. **Dreamscape** and **Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom** ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/35 "2013-03-04T21:18:52Z")
A long time ago I read a point-by-point comparison of _Die Hard_ and _Lethal Weapon_ that made a strong argument for them having at one point in pre-production having been the same film. I’ve searched repeatedly for it, but never have found it again. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/36 "2013-03-04T21:40:03Z")
Seems like there was more than one of those “teen and parent switch bodies” movies in theaters a while back. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/37 "2013-03-04T21:46:16Z")
I suspect this phenomenon can be traced back to the initial pitches for these films. A studio exec hears a pitch for a film and he says, “No thanks!” A short time later hears a similar pitch that gets him wondering if he’s missing a profitable trend. He green lights the second pitch, meanwhile the initial pitch has been picked up elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/38 "2013-03-04T22:21:17Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > _Weird Science_ and _Real Genius_ both came out in 1985. Real Genius and Weird Science seem pretty different but there was a movie from the same time called _My Science Project_ that was very similar to WS. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/39 "2013-03-04T23:45:11Z")
[The Poseidon Adventure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Poseidon_Adventure_(2005_film)) and [Poseidon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poseidon_(film)), both remakes of [The Poseidon Adventure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Poseidon_Adventure_(1972_film)), came out within months of each other, though one was made for TV and the other theatrical. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956/40 "2013-03-05T08:57:23Z")
[Powder(1995)](http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0114168/) and [Phenomenon(1996)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117333/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidental-film-releases/651956.md?page=3)