Hollywood has released identical movies every year for decades and it’s leaving people baffled
Topics: Film and TV, Reddit
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Netflix/ Troma Entertainment/Cinedigm Corp
Topics: Film and TV, Reddit
Hollywood can often be lacking originality, but this isn’t a new thing, and some film fans have started to realize how often studios release eerily similar flicks.
If you think we don’t get enough original ideas coming out of Hollywood... you would be right on the money.
Studios have always been risk adverse and simply don’t want to green light films that they don’t think have any earning potential.
With that being said, they have begun getting even tighter with their wallets as the cost of making films has gone up over the years.
Advert
If you can’t guarantee executive an existing market, sequel or spin off potential, well you might just be out of luck.
But as well as this, studios don’t seem to mind copying each other in order to make some money either.
In fact, many studios have been releasing similar films a few months after a film drops, hoping to capitalize.
This phenomenon even has a term, 'twin films', and some people on social media have begun to realize how often this happens.
Twin films tend to come out within a year of the first films release and often share similar themes, or plot points.
So, the easiest examples that come to mind are the 2011 film Friends with Benefits and film No Strings Attached.
Some other examples are Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down, The Illusionist and The Prestige, Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Observe and Report... you get the picture.
There is even a Wikipedia page dedicated to the cinematic phenomenon dating as far back as 1913.
Admittedly some comparisons are a little vague or out there but others are right on the money.
Some Reddit users were baffled for never noticing this trend before. Others weighed in on the reasoning behind the phenomenon and why it isn’t likely to go anytime soon.
“I believe the reason is gossip. People talk and 'pitching' seems to be a big thing in the movie business. Once a plot idea makes the rounds some people might want a piece of the cake without having to buy it,” one user wrote.
“Real answer: You can’t sit on the IP anymore. When you hear another company has a similar concept entering production, it’s either produce yours now or be known as the wannabe also-ran,” another added.
“Sometimes it’s as simple as someone makes a pitch to a studio. Said studio is reminded they have a script of their own already and decide to go with what they have rather than pay for another,” a third wrote.
“It’s because when a movie becomes a project/expected hit/and actual box office success, competing studios are always trying to get similar projects across the finish line. These are the ones we hear about,”
In all likelihood, it is probably a combination of all of these reasons but it is hard not to see when you notice it.