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I have a film degree (no, I don’t use it, and yes, my father is slightly irritated that he paid for it), and I learned in school *mumble mumble* years ago that there are only 7 possible plots in story telling. That means basic, a-to-b plots, you understand, though of course there are a million ways to make them your own.
But these film doppelgängers didn’t even bother to try – they’ve got pretty much the exact same plots from start to finish. But I guess that’s when the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes in to play? That, plus the fact that Hollywood likes money. If a movie trend is popular, they’re going to keep cranking those movies out until the horse has died. Twice. (I’m looking at you, George Lucas)
#7. First Daughter/Chasing Liberty
It’s funny how, in each of these pairings, there is (for me at least) a “better” film. Of these two movies about the President’s teenage daughter going a little off-script in an attempt to live a life of her own, Mandy Moore’s Chasing Liberty is the clear winner. Sorry, Katie Holmes. We’ll always have Dawson’s Creek.
Then again, my opinion didn’t translate to box office results – neither did very well, money-wise.
#6. Madagascar/The Wild
Dreamworks/Disney drama! This time, Dreamworks came out on top with the far more commercially successful Madagascar. Some have defended The Wild as the superior film, and most acknowledge that there might have been a little corporate espionage at work – Jeffrey Katzenberg left Pixar for Dreamworks shortly before a slew of similar concepts popped up, which led to a very public rift between him and Pixar’s John Lasseter and Steve Jobs.