The 'Copycat Films' Trend in Hollywood

These days, in Hollywood, it seems like most things come in two. What do I mean by that? Well, there has been a recent trend in the film industry where two films come out the same year and both of these films share similar plots. The only major difference between the two films, aside from the crews working on them, is usually just the overall tone and presentation of the films. Of course, only one can do better than the other, maybe either because it was the first film to come out that year or because that first film did not fare well with audiences while the second film had a much better result. That is why today, on Rhode Island Movie Corner, I'll be looking at six of the most notable pairs of what I like to call 'dueling films' that have hit theaters in the last few years. I will also be discussing which film ended as the 'winner' of the year, though I use that term very loosely because really you could say there will never be a winner. That's up for the audiences to decide.

1997: DANTE'S PEAK VS. VOLCANO

Apparently in the 90's, disaster movies seemed to be all the rage. One example of this was in 1997, a year that saw not only the romance/disaster film that would ultimately become the highest-grossing movie of all time (until 2009's 'Avatar') in James Cameron's 'Titanic', but two films based around volcanic eruptions. The first big volcano film of the year was 'Dante's Peak', which starred Pierce Brosnan as a volcanologist who is sent to the titular town of Dante's Peak, Washington to investigate volcanic activity, as the town is located right next to a dormant volcano. When the volcano does end up erupting, he must find a way out of the town along with the mayor (played by Linda Hamilton) and her two kids. Two months later, another volcano film, simply titled 'Volcano', hit theaters. This film starred Tommy Lee Jones as the head of a crisis agency who attempts to divert the path of flowing lava when a volcano erupts in downtown Los Angeles.

The Winner:

Neither film fared particularly well with critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, Volcano's Tomatometer stands at 44% while Dante's Peak ended up with a lower score of 27%. Despite the fact that it got worse reviews, 'Dante's Peak' has been credited as being more accurate and it was the film that fared better at the box office, grossing over 178 million while 'Volcano' grossed only 122 million. The fact that Dante's Peak did star the current James Bond at the time probably helped.

1998: DEEP IMPACT VS. ARMAGEDDON

While 1997 was the year of the volcano, 1998 was the year for asteroids. The first asteroid related film to hit theaters that year was 'Deep Impact', which hit theaters in May. This film starred an ensemble cast, including Elijah Wood, Morgan Freeman, and Robert Duvall. The other major asteroid film of the year was Armageddon, the July blockbuster from director Michael Bay ('Transformers, 'The Rock'). Like 'Deep Impact', it featured an ensemble cast, including Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and Steve Buscemi. Both films focused on efforts to stop a dangerous asteroid before it hit Earth and both movies had a team pilot a spacecraft to travel to the asteroid in order to destroy it. The crew of Deep Impact used nuclear weapons to destroy the asteroid while a team of drillers were sent up in Armageddon.



The Winner:

Like with the volcano films, neither film was a huge critical hit. Deep Impact was credited as being the more scientifically accurate film. While 'Armageddon' received worse reviews (as common in the majority of Michael Bay's filmography), it fared better at the box office (again, like most Michael Bay films do). In fact, it was the highest grossing film of 1998, even ahead of Steven Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan'. Armageddon grossed over half a billion dollars worldwide while Deep Impact only grossed about 350 million.

1998: ANTZ VS. A BUG'S LIFE

If disaster films weren't your thing, then 1998 also saw the release of two animated films from what are arguably the most well-known computer-animation studios working today, Pixar and Dreamworks. However, these two competing films have probably the most controversy surrounding them because it is believed that one of these films, both of which revolving around ants, was made after the idea was 'stolen' from the company that worked on the other film. Here's how the story goes. After Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney and formed Dreamworks, his new company bought Pacific Data Images and their first project together would be the company's first computer animated film, 'Antz'. The only problem was that Pixar, fresh off of the success of the first 'Toy Story' film, was also working on a ant-related film, 'A Bug's Life'. So did Katzenberg really steal the idea from John Lasseter? According to Katzenberg, 'Antz' evolved from a 1991 story pitch by writer Tim Johnson (who was also the director of the film) so really, who knows?



The Winner:

Antz may have hit theaters first, but in the end, 'A Bug's Life' performed better at the box office, grossing over 360 million while Antz only grossed about 171 million. This may have been because 'Antz' was more adult-oriented than the more kid-friendly 'A Bug's Life'. Plus, while 'A Bug's Life' was Pixar's second film, 'Antz' was just Dreamworks' first. However, according to Rotten Tomatoes at least, Antz has received stronger ratings, though both films have been received pretty well by critics. This was just the beginning of the competition between Pixar and Dreamworks when it came to their work in computer-animated films.

2012: MIRROR MIRROR VS SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

2012 saw a battle between two films based on the Brothers Grimm's classic fairy tale, Snow White. The first Snow White film of the year was 'Mirror Mirror', a family film from visual director Tarsem Singh which came out in March. The film starred Lily Collins as Snow White and Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen. A much more mature Snow White film, 'Snow White and the Huntsman', hit theaters during the summer in June. This film starred Kristen Stewart (fresh off of her role as Bella Swan in the 'Twilight' franchise) as Snow White and Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen. It also starred Chris Hemsworth ('Thor') in the role of the Huntsman and a pretty notable cast of dwarves, played by actors like Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, and Nick Frost. The dwarves in 'Mirror Mirror', on the other hand, were played by relatively unknown actors.

The Winner:

Both films received similar mixed reception from critics (according to Rotten Tomatoes, 'Mirror Mirror' has the slight edge at 50% while 'Snow White and the Huntsman' only stands at 48%). However, the winner at the box office was 'Snow White and the Huntsman', which grossed nearly 400 million at the box office and a sequel is currently in the works. Having the stars of 'Twilight' and 'Thor' in Stewart and Hemsworth, respectively, certainly must have helped along with its Summer release date. 'Mirror Mirror', on the other hand, only grossed about twice its reported 80 million dollar budget.

2012: ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER VS. LINCOLN

2012 also saw two films that were both based on our 16^th President, Abraham Lincoln. The first of these films, 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter', was a film that, as the title suggests, obviously wasn't really that historically accurate. Based on the 2010 mash-up novel of the same name by author Seth Grahame-Smith and produced by Tim Burton, this fantasy film followed Lincoln (played by Benjamin Walker) as he fought vampires who, in this universe, were slave owners where they utilized their workers as a food source. If you were looking for a much more historically accurate take on Lincoln, then later that year we saw the release of 'Lincoln', directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the President. This film took place during the final months of Lincoln's life as he worked to get the Thirteenth Amendment signed before the end of the Civil War. The ensemble cast also included Sally Field as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and Tommy Lee Jones as Radical Republican leader Thaddeus Stevens.



The Winner:

'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' received mixed to negative reviews from critics and only grossed about 116 million worldwide. 'Lincoln', on the other hand, is another story. It received critical acclaim from critics and grossed more than 263 million worldwide. It also received 12 Academy Award nominations (the most that any film got that year), even though it only ended up with two awards; one for Best Production Design and the other a Best Actor win for Day-Lewis, who has also won pretty much every single major acting award for his performance as Lincoln.

2013: OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN VS. WHITE HOUSE DOWN

This year sees the release of two films with plots revolving around takeovers of the White House. One of these films has already come out, 'Olympus Has Fallen'. That film, directed by Antoine Fuqua ('Training Day') stars Gerald Butler as a Secret Service agent who must rescue the President (played by Aaron Eckhart) when Korean guerrilla forces take over the White House. Later this year, we'll be seeing 'White House Down', another White House takeover film. This film is directed by Roland Chimeric ('Independence Day') and stars Channing Tatum in the lead role of a Capitol Policeman who also gets caught up in a takeover of the White House, done here by a group of paramilitary invaders led by Jason Clarke's character Stenz. Jamie Foxx plays the President in this film which, according to the trailer, will delve into our nation's 'darkest secrets'.

The Winner:

Well, we can't determine that just yet because 'White House Down' isn't out yet. We can only judge the performance of 'Olympus Has Fallen'. The film received mixed reviews but has actually performed pretty well at the box office. In its first weekend, it grossed over 30 million domestically. So now the pressure is on for Tatum and Emmerich to deliver with 'White House Down'.

And those are just a few of the many pairs of 'competing films' that have come out over the past few years. This is a trend that has certainly been big in recent years and will most likely still be happening in the future.