I'm a big fan of going to the movies and, well, movies in general. Something that's always made me scratch my head is when movies with similar concepts, themes or stories come out at the same time. Currently there is a sports movie featuring Kevin Costner that looks pretty similar to a soon to be released sports movie featuring Jon Hamm. I know that one is about football and one is about baseball, but still -- what gives, Hollywood Execs? Do you guys even talk to each other? Do you have spies in other studios tipping you off to the competition? Just off the top of my head I can think of a number of movies that had a doppelgänger in theaters at the same time.

  • Armageddon vs. Deep Impact
  • Volcano vs. Dante's Peak
  • Striptease vs. Showgirls (This I am fine with because ... BOOBS)
  • Mirror Mirror vs. Snow White & The Huntsman
  • After Earth vs. Oblivion
  • Olympus Has Fallen vs. White House Down

Can it be possible that rival studios do this to 'cherry pick' the buzz about their competitors' movies in the hope that moviegoers will want to see both? Could they possibly be using a similar preface to offset a constricted marketing budget? Whatever it is, it strikes me as lame and unoriginal.

What do you think? Are they giving us more of what we want, or are they assuming we'll watch anything they put out?

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