Elizabeth Banks appears in W (released on October 17), Zack and Miri Make a Porno (scheduled for an October 31 release), and Role Models (November 7). Which means it’s very likely that at some point in the first week of November, it will be possible to see her in three different movies in theatres on the same day.
Has anyone ever done this before?
I don’t know exactly how much overlap there was, but it was nearly impossible to avoid Antonio Banderas in 1995.
Interview With a Vampire :: November 11, 1994
Miami Rhapsody :: January 27, 1995
Desperado :: August 25, 1995
Assassins :: October 6, 1995
Never Talk to Strangers :: October 20, 1995
Four Rooms :: December 25, 1995
(and also Two Much, which had a release in Spain in December 1995, but didn’t open in the USA until March 1996)
I was listening to an old Loveline where a similar claim was made about actor Christopher McDonald. I’m too lazy to go through his IMDB, but you should find some films that opened concurrently.
There’s certainly three features of Elizabeth Banks I’m interested in.
I was thinking after I posted the OP that there probably are character actors that have appeared in several movies at the same time due to the fact that many of them (like McDonald) may do eight movies in a single year. But I was thinking about actors like Banks who had major roles in the movies in question.
Wasn’t Jude Law in a bunch of things back in’04, or '05?
Three seems like a number that would have been achievable by Tom Hanks or Kevin Bacon. I’m too lazy to do the work, though.
Sailboat
Not only did John C. Reilly have 3 films premiere in December 2002, but all 3 went on to be nominated for Best Picture! Beat that!
2004 had him star in the box office disappointments Alfie, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Closer and I Heart Huckabees. The only two films he was involved with that year that did OK were ones he barely appeared in: The Aviator and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
I remember back in 1993-94 that Tommy Lee Jones was in every frigging movie that came out. Well, it felt that way at the time. He’s a great actor, but I thought he was incredibly over-exposed at the time.
Sometimes studios hold back on releasing certain titles that may or may not have good box office sales until certain principle or supporting actors hit it big or become better known in the general public.
You’re right; O’Reilly did it. Gangs of New York premiered on December 20, 2002 and was still in theatres when Chicago and The Hours both premiered on January 24, 2003.
That said, I’m still giving Banks credit for doing it better even if O’Reilly did it first. She managed it in 21 days compared to his 35 and she had larger roles in her three movies.
Charles Lane made 13 movies in 1933 alone, so it is quite likely he was in three (or more) at once, either then, or some other time in his career.
It was possible to see Roddy McDowell in four different films in theaters (actually, in a single theater) at the same time back around 1974, when they were running all five Planet of the Apes films in one night.
Actually, while both Chicago and The Hours had larger nation-wide releases in January 2003, all 3 films premiered 10 days apart from each other.
Snap!
You forgot to mention her great winsomeness, and her wisdom in abandoing love scenes with Zach Braff.
As a bonus for the Elizabeth Banks fans, here’s her singing “I’m F***ing Seth Rogen” (NSFW language)
And here it is.