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Following

Dueling Works / Film Cross Genre

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Dueling Works — Film
Animation | Comedy | Drama | Horror | Period Pieces | Sci-Fi | Spy Fiction | Superhero | War | Cross-Genre

  • Initiators / Followers
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Description
    • Implementation: Implementation
  • Dr. Strangelove (1964) / Fail Safe (1964)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both films feature the President of the United States collaborating with the Soviet Union to avert imminent nuclear Armageddon. Interestingly, the books were at war too, with Red Alert, the precursor to Strangelove, winning out. When Kubrick heard that Fail Safe was being made into a movie, he tied the production up in legal issues to get Strangelove out first. Both were also produced by Columbia Pictures.
    • Implementation: The tone of the films is entirely different; Strangelove is a Black Comedy, while Fail-Safe is all about the horror.
  • Silent Running (1972) / Frogs (1972)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both are ecologically-themed films released on March 10, 1972.
    • Implementation: Silent Running is a sci-fi drama while Frogs is a horror film.
  • Cannonball (also known as Carquake) (1976) / The Gumball Rally (1976)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both 1976 films were inspired by the Real Life illegal cross-continent road race "The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash", that took place for a number of years in the United States.
    • Implementation: The Gumball Rally was a comedy, while Cannonball was an action suspense film. Cannonball was largely a rehash of the previous year's Death Race 2000, both directed by Paul Bartel and starring David Carradine, only in a modern-day setting and without the comedy.
  • Mazes and Monsters (1982) / Skullduggery (1983)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Films aimed to exploit fears that the growing Dungeons & Dragons craze was being used as a way of introducing young people to the occult and/or Satanism.
    • Implementation: Mazes and Monsters was a drama film Based on a True Story and noteworthy for being the first leading role for Tom Hanks, whereas Skullduggery was a more a comedy-horror film. Coincidentally, both films have Wendy Crewson playing the lead character's girlfriend.
  • Dreamscape (1984) / A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: A madman must be stopped from killing people in their dreams. Said madman uses blades on his fingertips to kill someone at least once. Scripts for both films were written in 1981, and were released in 1984 with three-month gap between them.
    • Implementation: Elm Street was a supernatural Slasher Movie, whereas Dreamscape used the dream-concept to display a variety of genres. Elm Streets similarity to Dreamscape is also the reason why Paramount didn't pick it up for distribution.
  • Footloose (1984) / Streets of Fire (1984) & Purple Rain (1984)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 3 movies released in 1984 with elements of music and melodrama.
    • Implementation: Footloose was based on true events of a ban on dancing in Nebraska, Streets of Fire was more action-oriented, and Purple Rain was the one with Prince. These movies were released by Paramount, Universal, and Warner Bros. respectively.
  • The Goonies (1985) / Stand by Me (1986)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two movies about a group of kids, Corey Feldman included, going on a adventure to find something while learning a life lesson along the way.
    • Implementation: While both movies have a well known theme song, the tone of them are completely different. The Goonies is aimed at kids and is a comedy while Stand By Me is aimed at adults and is a drama. Also, The Goonies is a original script from Chris Columbus while Stand By Me is based on a Stephen King short story.
  • Die Hard 2 (1990) / Predator 2 (1990)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 1990 released action films that serve as the first sequels to popular late 80's action films that were directed by John McTiernan helmed by Nightmare on Elm Street franchise directorial alums. Them being Renny Harlin and Stephen Hopkins respectively.
    • Implementation:
  • The Rescuers Down Under (1990) / Home Alone (1990)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two Thanksgiving 1990 films, opening on November 16. The Rescuers Down Under is the 29th Disney Animated Classic, coming in between The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast, and is the first direct sequel to an earlier Disney Animated Classic, that being The Rescuers from 1977. This installment has the titular mice duo, Bernard & Bianca of the Rescue Aid Society, sent to Australia to rescue a boy, Cody, from the clutches of a ruthless poacher who intends to use him to track down and kill a large golden eagle and her eggs, and fly Albatross Airways to get there. Home Alone is a Chris Columbus directed/John Hughes produced film from Disney rival Fox, and stars child actor Macaulay Culkin as a kid who is accidentally left behind in his family's mansion in Chicago when they wind up in a rush to get to Paris, and sees him take care of himself and outwit a pair of burglars played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern who attempt to rob the house while his mother hitches a ride with a jazz band to get back.
    • Implementation: Both films have John Candy in them, as Wilbur the Albatross in The Rescuers Down Under and the jazz musician on the truck in Home Alone. Rescuers also had an opening act, The Prince and the Pauper starring Mickey Mouse, prior to showings of that movie (with an intermission to refill popcorn and drinks between the short and the film's opening Walt Disney Pictures logo.)
  • GoodFellas (1990) / My Blue Heaven (1990)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Mob movies based on the life of Henry Hill, a Lucchese family associate of Irish and Italian descent
    • Implementation: Although they belonged to the same genre, both films were completely different from each other with GoodFellas being a gritty, R-rated crime drama about Hill as well as his friends and family while My Blue Heaven is a Lighter and Softer, PG-13 comedy that focuses on his life after entering the Witness Protection Program with just about every character having their names changed from their real-life counterparts including Vinnie 'Antonie' Antonelli who was based on the man himself. Amusingly, Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay of My Blue Heaven and she just so happened to be the wife of Nicholas Pileggi, the author of Wiseguy the book that served as the basis for GoodFellas.
  • The Austin Powers trilogy (1997) / The Shrek series (2001)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two Mike Myers comedy/parody movie franchises that take direct aim at two other noteworthy film franchises/companies; for Austin Powers, it targets the James Bond movies, while Shrek is directed towards The Walt Disney Company, the former employer of Shrek maker DreamWorks SKG founder Jeffrey Katzenberg (as a side note, Katzenberg entered Hollywood through United Artists, leaving for Paramount at about the time they released The Man with the Golden Gun, connecting Katzenberg to both targets). Austin Powers started in 1997 and saw Myers play a legendary spy and his archnemesis Dr. Evil, with Myers taking an additional role in each subsequent film. The Shrek series started in 2001, one year before the last Austin Powers film, Goldmember, and Myers voiced the titular ogre in an adventure to get his swamp back and eventually fall in love.
    • Implementation:
  • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) / Robin Hood (1991) & Disney's Robin Hood (1973) (1973 Originally, 1991 Theatrical Re-relase) & Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Prince Of Thieves is a 1991 epic from Warner Bros starring Kevin Costner, as he deals with the Sheriff of Nottingham murdering his father while he was in Jerusalem. The other one is from Fox, and has a French Robin Hood angle going for it, and its villain isn't as bad. The Disney version is the 21st Disney Animated Classic from 1973, has a furry ensemble, and mostly adapts the actual tale, albeit with a few alterations. Finally, Men in Tights is a spoof from Mel Brooks along the lines of Spaceballs, and was released a few years later.
    • Implementation: The animated Disney version is in this duel thanks to it making a Take That! to Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves in its marketing campaign for the home video re-release of the film (which was around the time Prince Of Thieves came to theaters), and it actually featured Prince John as the main antagonist.
  • Evita (1996) / Eva Peron: The True Story (1996)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both films are biopics of former Argentinean First Lady Eva Peron, the "Spiritual Leader of the Nation". The former is the film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical; the latter is an Argentinian-produced biopic.
    • Implementation: Eva Peron was put into production by the Argentinian Government to counter the musical's less-than-flattering account of Peron. Both films were released in the U.S. a week apart in December, 1996.
  • Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) / Kazaam (1996)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: As Roger Ebert pointed out, both movies are Disney productionsnote  that involve the protagonist discovering his long-lost father is the leader of a group of thieves, and with the help of a Genie defeats the gang and convinces his father to go straight.
    • Implementation: Kazaam was a live-action theatrical release and Non-Actor Vehicle for Shaquille O'Neal, while Aladdin and the King of Thieves was the second direct to video sequel to Disney's 1992 animated feature.
  • Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) / Titanic (1997) (1997)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 1997 released blockbuster sized films that largely take place on a large cruise ship in deep peril and have a human antagonist who is out to get his hands on "jewelry" of some kind.
    • Implementation:
  • Anna and the King (1999) / The King and I (1999)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both films are connected to the true account of Anna Leonowens and King Mongkut of Siam, famously depicted by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The latter is an adaptation of the classic musical The King and I. The former is a non-musical starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-fat.
    • Implementation: Anna and the King attempted to more faithful to historical accounts than Margaret Landon's quasi-biography Anna and the King of Siam, which served as the basis for the musical The King and I and its subsequent film versions. The animated King and I isn't even faithful to its own source material, turning it into an Aladdin knockoff complete with an evil sorcerer and comic-relief animal characters.
  • Lilo & Stitch (2002) / Men in Black II (2002)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two movies filled with lawful aliens and an ex-government agent in an all-black suit who is connected to them. Lilo & Stitch is the 42nd Disney Animated Classic and concerns a fugitive artificial alien lifeform, Experiment 626, escaping the alien federation's clutches and landing in Hawaii, where's he's adopted by young girl Lilo and her older sister, Nani, who were orphaned and are dealing with a black-dressed social worker (Ving Rhames), who is in fact a former CIA agent who dealt with the aliens. The aliens also send 626's creator, "Evil Genius" Jumba Jookiba, down to capture the now-named Stitch. MIBII is the sequel to the 1997 film, and sees Agent J having to bring the now-retired K back into the MIB to deal with an old threat from his past.
    • Implementation: Both movies also ironically feature a major "King of Musical Genre". Lilo & Stitch uses the most noteworthy songs from the King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis Presley in several key scenes, including a musical number with Nani trying to find a job. Presley was also referenced in the original MIB; the sequel has King of Pop Michael Jackson in a cameo (fun fact; Jackson actually tried to persuade maker Sony to give him the starring role).
  • Die Another Day (2002) / Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Entries in major multi-media franchises, both with an action and sci-fi bent, that were released in a few weeks of each other in December 2002. Both also feature Big Bads who act as Evil Counterparts to the lead character (in Die Another Day the Big Bad is an Identity Impersonator who patterned his personality after Bond's; in Nemesis the Big Bad is an evil clone of Captain Picard)
    • Implementation: Both were landmark entries for their respective series, with Die Another Day being the 40th Anniversary of the James Bond movie franchise and 20th film overall, and Nemesis being the 10th Star Trek film and celebrating the 15th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • Rugrats Go Wild! (2003) / Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Family films that utilized special technology to make it feel like the viewers were part of the movie.
    • Implementation: Rugrats Go Wild used Odorama cards that were given away with Burger King kids' meals and at Blockbuster video during random points in the movie, while Spy Kids used 3D glasses at a time when the technology was not as common as it was today. Ironically enough, the fourth Spy Kids film would also use Odorama cards.
  • Chasing Liberty (2004) / First Daughter (2004)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two films released eight months apart in 2004, both about the daughter of the President of the United States.
    • Implementation: Both films circles on the first daughter seeking a romance with a seemingly random man, only to reveal that the guy works for the White House in order to keep an eye on the young woman.
  • Dawn of the Dead (2004) / Shaun of the Dead (2004)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both zombie films based off the work of George A. Romero. The release of Shaun was pushed back a few weeks so as not to contend with the release of Dawn, due to the similar nature of the films.
    • Implementation: The former was a "reimagining" of the 1978 horror classic, and the latter an affectionate comedy homage with some gruesome elements thrown into the mix. Shaun used traditional slow-moving zombies, while Dawn featured running zombies (which are lambasted by Shaun's creators).
  • Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) / Repo Men (2010)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both sci-fi films about a massive corporation in a Crapsack World that offers organ transplants to the masses, and who send "repo men" assassins to murder those who can't pay their debts. The former is a musical, while the latter is an action film based on the 2009 novel, Repossession Mambo. Despite the names, neither film is a sequel to the '84 SF cult classic Repo Man, whose spiritual sequel Repo Chick was released in fall 2009. Confused yet?
    • Implementation: Although it has been reported that the concept for Repo Men was conceived in 2003, some two years after the stage version of Repo! debuted, the author's essay at the back of the novel reveals that Repossession Mambo was his first novel, the one he fell in love with but couldn't sell, and had been in parallel development with the screenplay since 2001.
  • The Road (2009) / The Book of Eli (2010)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both are post-apocalyptic movies about a man safeguarding something he holds dear. The former is trying to survive with his son and the latter is keeping the last Bible on Earth from the Big Bad.
    • Implementation: Whilst the two movies deal with some similar themes, The Road is a much more methodical and bleak in its approach whilst The Book of Eli placed more emphasis on action and had a more Fallout-esque scenario
  • Avatar (2009) / Alice in Wonderland (2010)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Big movies from famously imaginative directors with extensive 3D visual effects about a person who undergoes a physical change (and considerable Clothing Damage) in a dangerous World of Chaos where they're compelled to lead the oppressed animals/residents into battle against a person with a facial deformity and a Dragon. They also get admonished by blue people with glowing spots. Dreams and eyes are a big motif.
    • Implementation: Avatar has a male protagonist who chooses to stay in the new world after fighting a ship called the Dragon; Alice decides to go back to the real world after fighting an actual dragon but has the option of returning. Both also include nods to The Lord of the Rings: Avatar had the same effects company and Alice had a few shout outs.
  • Catfish (2010) / The Virginity Hit (2010)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Internet sites (Face Book and YouTube, respectively) are used to chronicle uncomfortable intimate relationships.
    • Implementation: Catfish is a documentary while Virginity is a regular comedy shot with Jitter Cam. Both have had controversy in that Catfish is suspected of being fake (not helping was the director's next project being the third Paranormal Activity film) and Virginity's ads coincided with (or possibly inspired) two real-life college students filming their roommate's intimate encounter, outing him as gay and causing him to kill himself.
  • Shutter Island (2010) / Inception (2010)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2010 Mind Screw thrillers starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a man apart from society who can have difficulty telling dreams from reality and is alternately helped and tormented by his meaningfully-named, mentally troubled wife who he killed.
    • Implementation: DiCaprio's characters are a bit different. In Shutter Island, he's a man jailed for killing his wife after ignoring her mental illness, which causes her to murder their kids, and he creates a delusion that he's after the man who killed her. In Inception, he's a "dream thief" who tested his theory of implanting ideas on his wife which caused her to think reality wasn't real, killed herself, and framed him for murder so he'd want to join her.
  • Young Adult (2011) / The Great Gatsby (2013) (2013)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Delusional thirty-something hopes to restart their life by reconnecting with teen-era lover, despite said lover getting married and having a kid, under a "friend's" disapproving eye.
    • Implementation: Gatsby's obsession with Daisy spanned an entire world war and is the reason he acquired all that cash while Young Adult's Mavis's obsession with her high school boyfriend Buddy seems to be more of a midlife crisis. Also, Buddy is Happily Married while Daisy... kind of isn't.
  • The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013) / Now You See Me (2013)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both films on the subject of magic released within a few months from each other.
    • Implementation: The former is a comedy about rival magicians, while the latter is more of a caper film about magicians that use sleight-of-hand to steal from the audience and outwit the police.
  • Carrie (2013 version) / Beautiful Creatures (2013)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Films based on novels about misunderstood teenage girls with supernatural abilities, released in 2013. They were originally slated for release within a month of each other, but Carrie was pushed back to October in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.
    • Implementation: Despite having similar subject matter, the films are in two very different genres. Carrie is a Stephen King horror story in which the eponymous heroine is driven over the edge by bullying, while Beautiful Creatures is a young adult fantasy story about a girl from a family of witches. This also marks the third time that Carrie has been adapted for the screen, the first being Brian De Palma's 1976 horror classic and the second being a Made-for-TV Movie in 2002.
  • Enemy (2013) / The Double (2013)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: A soft-spoken, passive man encounters his aggressive, confident doppelgänger. The two films premiered a day apart from each other at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
    • Implementation: While both films have surrealistic elements, Enemy is a psychological thriller with a grounded tone and set in contemporary times, while The Double is a dark comedy in which the characters have exaggerated personalities and live in an anachronistic society. Both are also based on stories called The Double, but not the same story; Enemy is based on a 2002 novel by José Saramago and The Double (the film) is based on an 1846 novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
  • Not Cool (2014) / Hollidaysburg (2014)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both films are based on the same unproduced script (How Soon Is Now by Dan Schoffer) and thus have the same basic plot (a group of high school friends reunite during the first Thanksgiving break after they go to college, during which a recently-dumped ex-prom king strikes up an unlikely bond with his more reserved former classmate). This trope was actually invoked — they were made for the reality TV show The Chair (2014), which documented the creation process of both films and had audiences vote on which one they liked better.
    • Implementation: Not Cool is a raunchy sex comedy in the same vein as American Pie and draws a lot from director Shane Dawson's brand of shock comedy; Hollidaysburg is a coming-of-age indie dramedy which director Anna Martemucci (now known professionally as A.M. Lukas) uses to explore the uncertainty of a specific period of a person's life.
  • Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014) / The Irate Gamer: Rise of Red (2014)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both films are based on internet review shows in which a Caustic Critic reviews video games. However, while both movies are action/adventure stories involving fantastic threats, the AVGN movie takes inspiration from Wayne's World in focusing more on the character than the show, while the IG movie is somewhat of a Film Serial, released in an inconsistent schedule spanning less than five years as part of the show's fourth season.
    • Implementation: The AVGN movie builds up to a video game review at the end, while the IG movie is a string of video game reviews that happen concurrently with the story.
  • Into the Woods (2015) / Cinderella (2015)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: In a rare case, two fantasy films released by the same studio (Disney) within a span of 4 months will feature Cinderella as one of the central characters.
    • Implementation: Into the Woods is a musical with Cinderella as a central supporting character although with many others (Rapunzel, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.), and part of Cinderella's story is based on the Brothers Grimm version. But Into the Woods is a inversion of the traditional fairy tale, especially in the second half of the musical. Cinderella is a more straightforward live action drama adaptation of the Disney Animated Classic and the Charles Perrault version of the fairy tale.
  • Annie (2014) / Daddy's Home (2015)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: A rich father tries to impress children that he takes the custody of.
    • Implementation: While Annie was based on the musical of the same name and the Little Orphan Annie comics, Daddy's Home is an original story.
  • Gods of Egypt (2016) / London Has Fallen (2016)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two movies with Gerard Butler in them that were released a week apart in 2016. Both are also action-adventure films, however, Gods of Egypt is also a fantasy/sci-fi flick, while London Has Fallen is non sci-fi and is a sequel to 2013's Olympus Has Fallen.
    • Implementation:
  • Doctor Strange (2016) / Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both films are related to a larger shared universe of movies. Doctor Strange is the 14th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Fantastic Beasts is the 9th film in the Harry Potter film franchise (and the first in it's own spin-off series); both stories deal largely with the mystical and the main cast largely comprises of wizards/sorcerers. Each film also makes use of an Audience Surrogate character for those who may be uninitiated with their respective settings. The comparisons end there, however, and some would say are largely superficial. In fact, two villains, Baron Mordo (Doctor Strange) and Gellert Grindelwald (Fantastic Beasts) have complete opposite goals by the end of their films. Mordo wants to rid the world of magic users like himself, seeing them as a blight for playing with the laws of nature; Grindelwald wants to expose magic society to No-Majs and then rule over them to proliferate magic.
    • Implementation: As Doctor Strange is a Marvel film, it falls comfortably into the Superhero genre despite heavy high-fantasy elements and multiple Disney Acid Sequences. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, on the other hand, is definitely a fantasy flick with elements of Steampunk and Diesel Punk for good measure. It also has a heavy, dark atmosphere due to being directed by David Yates, who directed the last four Harry Potter films.
  • Passengers (2016) / Collateral Beauty (2016)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Movies where the main characters fool or are fooled by, respectively, people they trust: In Passengers a Sleeper Ship's pod malfunctions and after some time alone the guy awakens another person because he's lonely, essentially trapping her with him until they die (the reviews claim there are other twists too). In Collateral Beauty an ad man's three partners hire three actors (or are they?) to portray the Anthropomorphic Personifications of Death, Time, and Love so he will either get out of his depression following his daughter's death or go insane so they can sell the company.
    • Implementation: Passengers is sci-fi, Collateral Beauty is Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Oscar Bait.
  • Christine (2016) / Kate Plays Christine (2016)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Independent films released at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, covering the on-air suicide of Floridian reporter Christine Chubbuck in 1974 and her preceding battle against depression in their own unique ways.
    • Implementation: Christine is a partly research-driven biopic, written by Craig Shilowich out of influence from his own, seven-year depression post-9/11. Kate Plays Christine, a documentary, takes a more complex turn on the story. It follows actress Kate Lyn Sheil taking further investigation into the conspiracy to learn how to accurately portray Chubbuck. In itself, it's a thriller about obsession and reality vs. fiction that eventually questions why audiences demand to see true-life casualties fictionalized in the first place.
  • Suicide Squad (2016) / Rogue One (2016)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two movies based off very popular franchises that were both released in 2016, and serve as a A Day in the Limelight for minor characters not previously seen in the series. Both involve a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits who have been sent on a very risky mission assigned by their superiors. Both also have a female main protagonist, and also prominently feature a fan-favorite villain (Joker for Suicide Squad and Darth Vader for Rogue One) in their advertising.
    • Implementation: Suicide Squad is the third DC Extended Universe instalment, while Rogue One is the eighth Star Wars film and first spin-off film in the franchise.
  • Wonder Woman (2017) / Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two films about...well... Wonder Woman, in some form! Whether it be an adaptation of the comics themselves or a historical drama centering around her creator and the women who inspired her creation.
    • Implementation:
  • Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) / A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Movies based off Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
    • Implementation: While the former film is a documentary on the series, the latter film is the retelling of a story of the friendship between Fred Rogers and Tom Junod.
  • Alpha (2018) / A-X-L (2018)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two A Boy and His X films released in August 2018.
    • Implementation: While Alpha is a prehistoric survival film showing how man and dog came together, A.X.L. is a futuristic action/adventure film in which the "dog" is a highly advanced AI in the form of a robot dog.
  • It: Chapter Two (2019) / Joker (2019) & Wrinkles the Clown (2019)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: R-rated films about Monster Clowns released in September-October 2019.
    • Implementation: Unlike the two others, Wrinkles the Clown is a documentary. It will be released the same day as Joker.
  • Rambo: Last Blood (2019) / Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two gritty and R-rated installments from action movie franchises that originated in The '80s and starring major action movie actors from that time (and rivals back then), Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both also see the return of an aged protagonist of the franchise, John Rambo (Stallone again) and Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), who stills kicks ass left and right.
    • Implementation: Last Blood is much smaller with a budget less than one third of Dark Fate's. Furthermore, while Last Blood is independently distributed and aimed at a more nice audience, Dark Fate is aimed at more mainstream audiences with the backing of major studios.
  • I Am Mother (2019) / Jexi (2019)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two movies centered around A.I. Is a Crapshoot that star Rose Byrne as the titular A.Is.
    • Implementation: I Am Mother is a post-apocalyptic thriller where the titular A.I. starts out as Ambiguously Evil before it's revealed that she kickstarted said apocalypse, and was released to Netflix. Jexi is a comedy where the titular A.I. becomes a Yandere after her owner tries tries to replace her, and was given a wide release.
  • Joker (2019) / Cuck (2019)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two movies released on the same day about social outcasts who become full criminals after being pushed over the edge.
    • Implementation: Joker is based on a famous comic book property while Cuck is an original story inpired by events caused by the late 2010's political climate of the U.S. Both focus on an isolated and socially awkward adult man living with an overbearing and abusive mother and is also a constant victim of bullying and being pushed over by society, and both end up committing acts of violence and several murders when they finally snap. While Joker was apolitical for the most part, Cuck has stronger political message and an over-the-top Politically Incorrect Villain Protagonist.
  • Jexi (2019) / Countdown (2019) & Superintelligence (2020)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: A smartphone app begins wreaking havoc on the lives of its owners, even transferring between devices to continue tormenting them.
    • Implementation: Jexi is a satirical comedy in which a Siri-esque voice assistant becomes an masssively overbearing presence on its owner's life, Countdown is a horror film in which an app that predicts your date and time of death appears to be causing the deaths of those who get a result with a very short timeframe. Finally, Superintelligence is a Melissa McCarthy comedy in which an AI assigned to monitor and learn from her infects her smart devices, begins interacting with and insulting her and, worse, develops megalomaniacal ambitions.
  • The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) / Everyday Parenting Tips (TBA)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two movies focusing on families dealing with family issues during an uprising, and also have Phil Lord and Chris Miller involved in some aspect of their production.
    • Implementation: The Mitchells vs. The Machines is an original animated film by Sony focusing on a father who wants to spend more time with his family during a technology uprising, while Everyday Parenting Tips is a live-action film by Universal based on a New Yorker short story about a father who is dealing with the challenges of parenthood during a monster uprising.
  • Wonka (2023) / Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Family friendly British comedy films released during the 2023 holiday season centering around underdog heroes and child companions going up against corrupt villains in the food industry. Both based on existing IP.
    • Implementation: Wonka is a live-action musical fantasy prequel to Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory centering on the young chocolate maker as he does battle with a chocolate cartel. Dawn of the Nugget is a stop-motion animated spy caper and sequel to Chicken Run about talking chickens going up against a high-tech chicken farm bent on turning their kind into chicken nuggets.
  • Imaginary (2024) / IF (2024)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Films released within a few months of each other that both center around a young girl interacting with one or more abandoned Imaginary Friends.
    • Implementation: Imaginary is a horror movie in which the imaginary friend is nursing a dangerous grudge against the young girl's stepmother for abandoning him. IF is a fantasy comedy in which the young girl discovers she can see the abandoned imaginary friends of other people and sets out the help them.

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