Remember when “Finding Nemo” and “Shark Tale” were released around the same time? Or when “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Captain America: Civil War” came out just months apart?
It’s not the first time two movies with similar themes have come out around the same time. In April, a movie called “Pet Graveyard” will be out on DVD and digital days before Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” remake comes to theaters.
This phenomenon of “twin” movies is actually somewhat common. Forbes contributor Mark Hughes explained in a 2011 Quora post that while sometimes the release of two similar films is just coincidence, it could be to piggyback off a competitor’s potentially successful – or already successful – project.
Read the rest of his explanation here, and keep scrolling to see more “twin” films that have come out months apart in theaters over the years.
1993/1994: "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp" are both centered around Western lawman Wyatt Earp.
Box Office "Wyatt Earp": $25 million "Tombstone": $56.5 million
Neither film did overwhelmingly great at the box office. "Tombstone," starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, edged out the Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid film from Warner Bros.
1997: "Dante's Peak" and "Volcano" both revolve around the cast outrunning erupting volcanoes.
Box OfficeDante's Peak": $178 million "Volcano": $122.8 million
Fox got a little excited with its over-the-top posters for "Volcano." The film did nowhere near as well as Pierce Brosnan's volcano epic in the states; however, the Los Angeles centered movie picked up overseas.
1998: The Earth was nearly destroyed in both "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact."
Box Office Armageddon": $553.7 million"Deep Impact": $349.5 million
Bruce Willis saves the world from an asteroid in the first film, while Robert Duvall tries to stop a massive comet from colliding with the planet.
1998: "Antz" and "A Bugs Life" both follow life from an ant's point of view.
Box Office"Antz": $171.8 million"A Bug's Life": $363.4 million
Even animated distributors can't avoid releasing similar films. Disney and Pixar's bug film went up against Sylvester Stallone's ant crew and took him down.
1998/1999: "The Truman Show" and "EDtv" both follow men whose lives are being filmed 24/7.
Box Office "The Truman Show": $264 million "EDtv": $35.2 million
Both films revolve around reality shows. The main difference is that Ed (Matthew McConaughey) agrees to have his life filmed while Jim Carrey's character, Truman, doesn't know he's being filmed on "The Truman Show."
"The Truman Show" was nominated for several Academy Awards including best director.
2000: Both "Mission to Mars" and "Red Planet" follow explorations to the planet that go awry.
Box Office "Mission to Mars": $111 million"Red Planet": $33.5 million
Even the marketing for both films looked indistinguishable. However, Val Kilmer's film tanked compared to the Mars film with Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins.
2002: "Phone Booth" and "Liberty Stands Still" hold the main characters hostage at one point for the film's entirety.
Box Office "Phone Booth": $97.8 million"Liberty Stands Still": $595,000*
Colin Farrell locked himself in a phone booth for the duration of the first film while being held at gunpoint. In the latter, Linda Florentino locks herself to a hot dog vendor's cart filled with explosives for the movie. Both must stay on phones or they'll die.
*The film was released in the US on DVD.
2003/2004: A year after Disney's beloved "Finding Nemo" came to theaters, Will Smith tried to charm audiences as a fish in "Shark Tale."
Box Office "Finding Nemo": $921.7 million"Shark Tale": $367.3 million
"Nemo" made more than double the DreamWorks Animation picture. It received a sequel, "Finding Dory," June 2016.
2004: "Chasing Liberty" and "First Daughter" both follow the lives of the president's daughter.
Box Office"Chasing Liberty": $12.3 million"First Daughter": $10.6 million
Neither film starring Mandy Moore or Katie Holmes did well at theaters.
2005/2006: "The Cave" and "The Descent" take us on scary journeys deep below Earth's surface.
Box Office"The Cave": $33.3 million"The Descent": $57 million
Both horror films follow caving expeditions that go horribly wrong. They each debuted in August of 2005 and 2006.
2005/2006: "Madagascar" had little competition from Disney's "The Wild" about animals getting loose from the zoo.
Box Office"The Wild": $102.3 million"Madagascar": $532.7 million
The addition of the lovable, misguided penguins helped "Madagascar" soar at theaters. You may not even recall Disney's film which debuted nearly a year later.
The "Madagascar" franchise has grossed over $2.2 billion worldwide and spawned a spin-off TV series.
2005/2006: "Capote" and "Infamous" are both about the story of Truman Capote.
Box Office"Capote": $49.2 million"Infamous": $2.6 million (only released in 179 theaters)
Both films explore Truman Capote's life while researching the book "In Cold Blood" and his ensuing relationship with Perry Smith.
2006: "The Prestige" and "The Illusionist" both captivated us with magic.
Box Office "The Prestige": $109.7 million"The Illusionist": $87.9 million
Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman's film about the competition between two magicians narrowly edged out Edward Norton's about using magic solely for love at theaters.
2006: "World Trade Center" and "United 93" both tell the story of 9/11 from different perspectives.
Box Office "World Trade Center": $163 million"United 93": $76.3 million
"Flight 93" was a similar TV film to "United 93" that also aired the same year.
2006: "The Black Dahlia" and "Hollywoodland" both follow unsolved murders based on true stories.
Box Office"The Black Dahlia": $49.3 million"Hollywoodland": $16.8 million
Josh Hartnett's film about the murder of Elizabeth Short did better in theaters than Ben Affleck's on the death of "Superman" actor George Reeves.
for love at theaters.
2006/2007: Only one penguin film could come out on top between "Happy Feet" and "Surf's Up."
Box Office "Happy Feet": $384.3 million"Surf's Up": $149 million
"Happy Feet" did well enough in theaters to warrant a sequel in 2011.
2009: Hollywood became obsessed with security giving us "Mall Cop" and "Observe & Report."
Box Office "Paul Blart: Mall Cop": $183.3 million"Observe and Report": $27 million
Kevin James's take on a security cop fared much better than Seth Rogen's try at theaters. A sequel to the film was released in 2015 which didn't perform as well at theaters.
2009: "2012" and "Knowing" both follow events leading to the end of the world.
Box Office"2012": $769.7 million"Knowing": $183.6 million
In "2012", we see the Earth crumble before our eyes alongside Jackson Curtis (John Cusack). "Knowing" sees John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) trying to prevent the end of the world from happening.
2010/2011: "The Fighter" and "Warrior" are both about brothers fighting in tournaments.
Box Office"The Fighter": $129.2 million"Warrior": $23 million
Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg starred in David O. Russell's film about boxer Micky Ward in December 2010. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton played brothers less than a year later who sign up for a mixed martial arts tournament.
2011: Both "Friends With Benefits" and "No Strings Attached" explored sexual relationships between friends.
Box Office"Friends with Benefits": $149.5 million"No Strings Attached": $147.8 million
"No Strings Attached" was originally going to be called "Friends With Benefits" after its original working title "F--- Buddies" wasn't ever going to get cleared by the Motion Picture Association of America. However, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis' film already had that title.
2012: Two versions of the same princess tale starring Kristen Stewart and Julia Roberts debuted, "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "Mirror, Mirror."
Box Office "Snow White and the Huntsman": $396.6 million"Mirror, Mirror": $166.2 million
"Snow White and the Huntsman" had the star power of Kristen Stewart coming off of the "Twilight" films, giving her film the advantage with the younger demographic. "Mirror, Mirror" depended too heavily on marketing the familiar face of Julia Roberts and not its younger stars Lily Collins and Armie Hammer.
2012/2013: "Captain Phillips" and "A Hijacking" portrayed the 2009 hijacking of a cargo ship by Somali pirates.
Box Office "Captain Phillips": $218 million"A Hijacking": $60,180
Foreign language film "A Hijacking" showed a Danish cargo ship being hijacked. "Captain Phillips," starring Tom Hanks, follows an American ship overrun by Somali pirates.
Channing Tatum's "White House Down" came out three months after similar movie "Olympus Has Fallen."
Box Office"Olympus Has Fallen": $161 million "White House Down": $205 million
The big difference here is that Film District only paid an estimated $70 million for Gerard Butler's thriller, while Sony and Columbia Pictures launched the Tatum flick at an estimated cost of $150 million. Butler's film ended up being more cost effective in the end, warranting a sequel.
2013/2015: "Jobs" and "Steve Jobs" both followed the life of the former Apple CEO.
Box Office"Jobs": $35.9 million "Steve Jobs": $34 million
Ashton Kutcher's take on Steve Jobs was critically panned in 2013. Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet both earned Academy Award nominations for their roles in Danny Boyle's 2015 film. Neither film was a big box-office smash.
2016: "Batman v Superman" and "Captain America: Civil War" both pit legendary superheroes against each other in big brawls.
Box Office"Captain America: Civil War": $1.1 billion "Batman v Superman": $873.2 million
Not only were the posters for both superhero films similar - the "Civil War" poster looked like a giant zoom in of the "Batman v Superman" one - but the marketing campaigns for both superhero showdowns felt remarkably the same.
Warner Bros.' used the hashtag #WhoWillWin to get fans to root for Batman or Superman while Marvel asked fans to align with #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan ahead of the films' releases.
2016/2018: Disney and Warner Bros. released live-action versions of "The Jungle Book."
Box Office "The Jungle Book": $966.5 million "Mowgli": N/A
Disney's "The Jungle Book" starred Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, and Christopher Walken. The movie set expectations high for Warner Bros.' movie.
The Warner Bros.' film changed its title to "Mowgli." Unlike Disney's film, this one is a more direct adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book," starring the voice talents of Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, and motion capture king Andy Serkis. Overall, the film is a bit darker and more mature than its counterpart.
Perhaps anticipating the film would not perform as well in theaters, Warner Bros. sold global streaming rights for "Mowgli" to Netflix in July 2018. It was released in December on the streaming service.
2017: "Rough Night" and "Girls Trip" involve groups of girlfriends who reunite for a weekend of partying and debauchery.
Box Office "Rough Night": $47.3 million "Girls Trip": $140 million
Critics weren't kind to "Rough Night," saying the comedy missed too many opportunities.
"Girls Trip," starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall, and Queen Latifah, became a bonafide hit for its solid casting and comedic chops. The film helped Tiffany Haddish become a break-out star since its release.
2018: Both "Gnome Alone" and "Sherlock Gnomes" are computer-animated movies about gnomes getting released three weeks apart.
Box Office "Gnome Alone": N/A "Sherlock Gnomes": $90.3 million
"Gnome Alone" was originally set for an October 2017 release but was pushed back last minute the day before the movie was supposed to hit theaters. The movie comes from newer theatrical company Smith Global Media.
"Sherlock Gnomes" is a sequel to 2011's "Gnomeo & Juliet" with the voice talents of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, and Johnny Depp as the titular Sherlock Gnomes. The Sherlock character goes on the hunt for a number of missing gnomes. At the end of the day, neither film was fondly received by audiences.
February 2019: Hulu released its "Fyre Fraud" documentary days before Netflix dropped "FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened."
Four days after Netflix revealed a trailer for its documentary on the disastrous Fyre Festival, Hulu not only announced its own documentary on the same festival, but dropped it the same day.
Hulu's documentary features an exclusive interview with festival organizer, Billy McFarland, who was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to wire-fraud charges in 2018. Netflix's documentary is produced by Vice Studios and Jerry Media, a media agency that was involved in promoting the festival. McFarland was paid an undisclosed amount to appear in the Hulu doc.
Read more: 10 wild revelations about the epic Fyre Festival failure uncovered in Netflix's new documentary
April 2019: Right before Stephen King's "Pet Sematary" hits theaters, a movie called "Pet Graveyard" will be released on DVD and digital.
Box Office "Pet Sematary": N/A "Pet Graveyard": N/A
Even the typeface on these two posters looks similar. While the names of these two films are similar, the premises appear to be a little bit different.
"Pet Sematary" is a remake of Stephen King's thriller following the Creed family who discover a cemetery on their property that's linked to an ancient burial ground. "Pet Graveyard" will focus on a group of friends who are being "tormented by the Grim Reaper and his sinister pet" after an experiment which allows them to revisit the dead.