# Movies or shows with same theme released at same time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605 "2013-10-07T18:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/1 "2013-10-07T18:21:44Z")
A friend and I were discussing the phenomenon of movies or TV shows that deal with the same story or theme, and get released around the same time, without coordination between the two productions (and without one obviously copycatting the other). Some examples include _Armageddon_ and _Deep Impact_, both about an asteroid threatening the earth, coming out in mid-1998; and Tom Fontana’s _Borgia_ and Showtime’s _The Borgias_ both premiering in 2011. Here are my questions: 1. Is there a name for this phenomenon? 2. Are there some good lists with examples of it? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/2 "2013-10-07T18:23:05Z")
Ca. 2000, two biopic movies were released almost simultaneously about the early 1970s middle-distance runner Steve Prefontaine, who died in a car accident as he was headed into his prime. How and why this happened is still a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/3 "2013-10-07T18:24:54Z")
How about [Volcano](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano_(1997_film)) and [Dante’s Peak](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante's_Peak)? ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/4 "2013-10-07T18:25:01Z")
TV Tropes calls it [Dueling Movies](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DuelingMovies) and has an extensive list of them. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/5 "2013-10-07T18:29:38Z")
The Sopranos and Analyse This? MiM ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/6 "2013-10-07T18:33:20Z")
In 2006, 30 Rock, a show about the making of a weekly TV comedy show, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a show about the making of a weekly TV comedy show, both premiered. Studio 60 was produced by Aaron Sorkin and written as a drama, and as I recall, the smart money was on it to be the one that survived. Which is not, of course, how it worked out. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/7 "2013-10-07T18:38:13Z")
In 1965, two biographies of Jean Harlow, both titled **Harlow** were released within a month of each other. ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/8 "2013-10-07T19:06:26Z")
> [@ricksummon](#): > > TV Tropes calls it [Dueling Movies](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DuelingMovies) and has an extensive list of them. Thanks, **ricksummon**! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/9 "2013-10-07T19:28:03Z")
Disney’s \*\*\*The Wild \*\*\*and DreamWorks’ _ **Madagascar** _? Pixar’s \*\*\*A Bug’s Life \*\*\*and _ **Antz** _ (featuring the voice of Woody Allen? _ **Tombstone** _ and _ **Wyatt Earp** _? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/10 "2013-10-07T19:38:02Z")
There was a good stretch there where most of Dreamwork’s CGI movies were parallels to Pixar’s. They didn’t quite seem to grasp just what was making the Pixar movies good, though. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/11 "2013-10-07T22:24:25Z")
You’re at Warner’s and have had a smutty Mark Twain biopic in development for years. You hear Lion’s Gate is rushing something very similar into production. It’s now or never. What are you going to do? In the last few decades, we’ve seen dueling versions of Aladdin, Dangerous Liaisons, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Linda Lovelace, John Holmes, Superman and Truman Capote. Most of these were the result of the situation I just described. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/12 "2013-10-08T00:46:36Z")
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) was remade twice, less than a year apart, once for TV with the same name as the original (Nov 2005), once as a theatrical movie called simply Poseidon (May 2006). ---
**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:** [October 8, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/13 "2013-10-08T00:54:45Z")
[A similar thread from this past spring.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684116) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/14 "2013-10-08T06:51:01Z")
The movie \*Titanic \*and the musical \*Titanic, \*both in 1997. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/15 "2013-10-08T07:01:20Z")
EdTv and The Truman Show?? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/16 "2013-10-08T20:48:19Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The movie \*Titanic \*and the musical \*Titanic, \*both in 1997. Murray Yeston wrote a musical called Phantom and was planning to bring it to Broadway. However, Andrew Lloyd Webber got there first, and another Phantom musical won’t hit Broadway for 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/17 "2013-10-08T21:10:30Z")
The 2005 television season included the debut of \*Surface \*(unknown life forms are discovered living in the ocean), \*Threshold \*(aliens transforming humans by rewriting their DNA) and \*Invasion \*(unknown life forms living in the ocean are transforming themselves into humans by rewriting their DNA), not to mention the similar-themed \*Medium \*and _Ghost Whisperer_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/18 "2013-10-08T21:42:32Z")
They’re not on at **exactly** the same time, but can anyone tell the difference between _Mr. Selfridge_ recently on PBS Masterpiece Classic and _The Paradise_ on PBS Masterpiece Classic now? 😕:dubious:😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/19 "2013-10-08T21:46:50Z")
I seem to remember two Christopher Columbus-themed movies in 1992 (the 500th anniversary of his first voyage). ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605/20 "2013-10-08T21:50:25Z")
How about _Chicago Hope_ and _ER_ both premiering during the same television season. Both were dramas centered on Chicago hospitals. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-same-theme-released-at-same-time/670605.md?page=2)