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The Illusionist thread reminded me of this really bizarre coincidence that I've never really heard people talk about or explain. I did a google search and found this incomplete list that confirms my suspicions.
How is it that such similar stories get greenlit by different studios AT THE SAME TIME. Is this a marketing scheme? Some kind of conspiracy?
What are the chances that two movies about magicians come out within a year of each other out of the blue like that. Same with Deep Impact/Armageddon.
Puffy, insight?
Did a bit more searching, found another article (from Cracked, so--language advisory)
There's still tons more that aren't on these lists. Can someone explain this phenomenon?
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The bandwagon effect? Also films can profit off another similar film's PR campaign. But if they wait too long that effect dissipates.
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I think what happens, at least from what I've heard, is that one studio greenlight it and then another studio says "Oh, that's a good idea! Let's do the same thing, only quicker." Usually I find that the studio that greenlit a movie second is the first to come out. It's kind of silly, but that's what happens. At least I think so.
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I suspect that a lot of scripts (maybe even most scripts) get circulated to a lot studios before they get picked up by on
I suspect that there are times when a studio sees a script where they like the basic idea but don't care for the script. They reject the script but then hire someone to right a script using some of the same ideas. Its not ethical but I'd be shocked if it isn't common. In such an environment its not at all surprising that similar movies are in production at different studios at the same time.
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I think in the case of Wall E, they've been waiting for everyone to forget about Dreamworks' Robots.
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According to Andrew Stanton, the idea for WALL-E has been in development since at least 1995.
Very similar ideas getting approved and released close to each other happens all the time in books, comics, movies, television shows...I think it's often bandwagon jumping, but not always. Sometimes it's that certain ideas seem to be out there in the creative flux, just waiting to be picked up. DC Comics released The Doom Patrol and Marvel released The Uncanny X-Men the same year, both featuring a mentor in a wheelchair and a team of super-powered misfits sworn to protect a world that did not understand them. And yet, the creators of both books had little to no idea of the similar premises until the books came out.
It happens a lot more than you'd think.
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I read an interview with some New Yorker cartoonist who said it happened all the time -- 2 or more cartoonists sending in the same joke in the same week.
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Adam Carolla, a comedy writer as well as a radio host, has often commented on instances where he has been pitched a commercial or show idea that he himself has already pitched to someone else. There are a lot of ideas out there, and a lot of ideas getting repeated a lot of the time.
Carolla assumes that this is coincidence, and doesn't believe that the originator of a basic idea owns it, but that execution is the essential element.
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I think it's safe to say that "The Happening" and "The Signal" will be added to this list, judging by the trailers alone.
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I think sometimes it is in response to something in the news. There is some new scientific break through in cloning or a comet hits Jupiter and everyone runs out and writes a script about it. It's about a topic that has been in the news so the studio's green light it, especially if they can blow up some famous world landmarks.
As far as the first list, there were several I would chalk up to the bandwagon, greedy studio effect. It looked like several of those were knock-offs that came out about a year or so after the first.
Never underestimate Hollywood's ability to be greedily unoriginal. Look at all the series reboots, Batman, Superman, Star Trek. We have a built in audience so we know it will make some money, Green Light. Don't get me wrong I loved Batman Begins but why not come out with some new superhero movie to take advantage of the trend. Why don't the superhero's ever have a new villain to fight? Hmm we're redoing Spider/Bat/Super/ X-man who is the most popular villain? Who's going to bring in the biggest audience?
As far as cracked's list most of those seem like script knock off's.
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They can't really be "knock-offs" because they're in production at the SAME time, released within a year of each other. Basically, the two movies have very little idea of what's going on with the other one except that they're about the exact same thing. The only conclusion I can come to is that the studios are closely watching what other studios are doing and playing a big game of copycat when they're choosing scripts.
Anyway--because I'm interested in this topic, I'm compiling a list that can be added to.
Chronologically:
Fail Safe/Dr. Strangelove '64 Short Circuit/Batteries Not Included '86/'87 Like Father Like Son/Vice Versa '87/'88 Turner & Hooch/K9 '89 Leviathan/Deep Star Six/The Abyss '89 Flatliners/Jacob's Ladder '90 Groundhog Day/12:01 '93 Tombstone/Wyatt Earp '93/'94 Rookie of the Year/Little Big League/Angels in the Outfield '93/'94 Volcano/Dante's Peak '97 Prefontaine/Without Limits '97/'98 Antz/A Bug's Life '98 Saving Private Ryan/Thin Red Line '98 Deep Impact/Armageddon '98 Truman Show/EdTV '98/'99 Joan of Arc/The Messenger '99 Deep Blue Sea/Lake Placid '99 Mission to Mars/Red Planet '00 The Score/Heist '01 Pirates of the Caribbean/Sinbad(cartoon) '03 Finding Nemo/Shark Tale '03/'04 Alexander/Troy '04 National Treasure/Sahara '04/'05 The Cave/The Descent '05 Garden State/Elizabethtown '05/'06 The Illusionist/The Prestige '06 Capote/Infamous '05/'06 Madagascar/The Wild '05/'06 Aeon Flux/Ultraviolet '05/'06 Happy Feet/Surf's Up '06/'07 United 93/World Trade Center '06 Flushed Away/Ratatouille '06/'07 Zodiac/The Zodiac '07 Juno/Knocked Up '07
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It was from a different list I found online. I'll happily strike it from the list--I want this one to be good.
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I think you should add DaVinci Code in with National Treasure. Both were Historical-Fiction/Action/Mystery movies with big name leads.
Also, wasn't there a few movies that all had to do with Queen Elizabeth that were right in a row, or were they all the same movie?
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I'd agree about Da Vinci code if it weren't released more than a full year after Sahara--not really the same phenomenon of "two stories about hunting treasure from American History" released only a few months apart.
...looking into the Elizabeth movies. Can't find it so far, but I have the same feeling you do.
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Juno and Knocked Up? They were created by the same PEOPLE...it's not like two studios competing. I'm gonna argue that one.
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Unless Fox Searchlight and Universal are the same company (does one own the other?), there are no common cast or crew between Juno and Knocked Up. Which people are you referring to?
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My script knock off theory matches what some people have already said. The scripts are floated around Hollywood. One of the studios sees it, thinks its not a bad idea but decides not to make that exact script. They decide to knock it off but more to their liking. The original script gets picked up by another studio and they both go forward with their movies.
Another scenario Studio A hears Studio B is making the script they already rejected. Studio B is getting lots of good feedback so Studio A decides to knock it off and tries to race to market with their version.
I don't think you can consider something that comes out a year after the first to be pair of movies. "Happy Feet/Surf's Up '06/'07". That's just copying a successful movie, penguins are hot right now lets do a penguin movie. To be a real pair in the sense of this thread I would have to think they had to come out within a few months of each other. "The Cave/The Descent '05"
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Happy Feet and Surf's Up were released only 6 months apart, and considering how long production on CG films is (I was under the impression it took a few years), they would be in production BEFORE penguins were "in", probably even before "March of the Penguins" was released in 2005. Unless I see compelling evidence based upon start-of-production dates, I think it's a valid candidate for the list.
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I think Happy Feet and Surf's Up were both spin offs from March of the Penguins. It was kind of a no brainer. Penguins have to be the easiest thing to animate besides talking vegetables, and there was already penguin toys everywhere. I'm amazed there was only two animated penguin movies.
Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love were set in the same era, but the stories weren't that similar... were they?
I am getting the sense that these twinner movies were much more popular during the Clinton administration. Not that I blame him personally or anything.
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Again, going back to how long it takes to make these movies: link
Happy Feet was pushed forward in 2003, and it took 2 years just to build up the animation studio. They had to keep re-doing the movie as better technology came out. So it's not really logical to say that Happy Feet was a spin-off of "March" (2005). Surf's Up seems like it might have been made in less time, capitalizing off of the penguin-craze.
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