5 Hit Movies That Swiped Their Plots

There are a finite number of stories that can possibly be told, and after a century of moviemaking, filmmakers are bound to start repeating themselves completely by accident.
5 Hit Movies That Swiped Their Plots

Hollywood is notorious for remaking popular films in its never-ending quest for money. However, there are a finite number of stories that can possibly be told, and after a century of moviemaking, they're bound to start repeating themselves completely by accident. As we've previously discussed, this happens way more often than you'd think, in bizarrely unexpected ways.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Is The World Is Not Enough (1999)

Bruce Wayne and his batsuit
Warner Bros.

The 19th James Bond movie and the third Batman movie (or seventh, or ninth, depending on when you start counting) share more than the fact that they're both about handsome British actors grabbing people by the shoulders and shouting at them.

Sure, there's the obvious fact that both are about a suave, attractive action hero who owns an arsenal of expensive gadgets, likes to say his own name, and must overcome his physical limitations so that he can stop a terrorist kingpin from setting off a nuke in a major city, but that's lots of movies -- it's when you go scene by scene that you realize The Dark Knight Rises is The World Is Not Enough as told with rubber costumes.

Batman vs. bane
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM
Behind that mask, Bane is making the exact same face as the other three.

Both films open with a prologue that features a midair action sequence in which the villain's henchmen willingly sacrifice themselves to rescue their master.

Bane and Bond suspended from planes
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM

Then we cut to a scene where the hero's elderly British caretaker moodily reminds the hero that he's getting too old for the hero business.

Alfred and M
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM
"I'm getting too old for this shite."

After that, there's a scene in a poorly lit doctor's office wherein a doctor points at some X-rays to inform the hero that his body is falling apart after years of leaping off buildings and punching supervillains into submission, which triggers a somber midlife identity crisis.

Batman and Bond doctors
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM
They both also sex the shit out of their physician.

The hero then meets a beautiful no-nonsense brunette businesswoman with a vaguely defined European accent. Nudity immediately commences.

Batman and Bond with their love interests
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM

But suddenly, another beautiful no-nonsense brunette woman appears. She doesn't serve any purpose to the story except to step in as the hero's replacement love interest after the other woman is disqualified from this position for reasons that will soon become clear.

Batman and Bond love interests
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM
The face of a man who just heard Denise Richards deliver dialogue.

Meanwhile, the villain from the opening action scene reappears -- a powerful, bald terrorist leader who talks funny and is impervious to pain. The hero is forced to once again don his hero shoes to deal with this destructive madman and pays a visit to his personal quartermaster, who describes to the audience all of the gadgets that will eventually be used in the film.

Batman and Bond get their gear
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM
Luckily, The Dark Knight Rises was able to condense two old white men into Morgan Freeman.

The hero pursues the villain to his secret underground lair for a one-on-one showdown -- Batman races around the streets of Gotham in a rocket-powered motorcycle, and Bond races around the streets of London in a rocket-powered ... um, boat. Jesus, that movie is stupid.

chase scenes
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM
How stupid? This stupid.

Anyway, the villain is able to exploit the hero's failing body in order to gain the upper hand, defeating the hero and stealing a nuclear bomb in the process.

Batman and bond defeated
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM
"Don't you take that nuclear bomb! Don't you do it!"

Physically and morally crippled, the hero has to fight even harder to regain his strength and confront the bald terrorist again, only to discover that the bald terrorist is merely a hired goon working for the true villain -- the no-nonsense, vaguely European businesswoman he had sex with earlier! She subdues the hero and forces him to sit through a detailed monologue about how she plans to carry on her father's legacy, which somehow involves blanketing an entire city in a cloud of nuclear murder.

Batman and Bond subdued
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM
"But ... we made sex!"

The hero miraculously escapes, there is another chase scene in which the bad guys crash and die in their own getaway vehicle, and the bomb is detonated safely out of harm's way. In the confusion, the hero absconds with the emergency replacement girlfriend who was clumsily introduced in the film's second act and retreats to a secret vacation spot to be spied on by his elderly British caretaker.

Batman and James Bond victorious
Warner Bros., Eon Productions/MGM
Because callously faked death boning is the best kind of boning there is.

I, Robot (2004) Is Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

I, Robot
20th Century Fox

Even though I, Robot is an action/sci-fi Will Smith explosion-fest and Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a comedy starring popular cartoon characters from the past century, both are more or less the same movie if you use the words "robot" and "toon" interchangeably. One stars a wisecracking street-smart detective who is caught up in a murder mystery that thrusts him unwillingly into a world of cartoon characters and contemporary brand recognition. The other is Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Detectives
20th Century Fox, Walt Disney
They also feature a weird emphasis on shoes.

Both movies center on a cynical detective who harbors a deep-seated prejudice against a local community of sentient special effects because he blames them for a past tragedy in his life.

Prejudiced detectives
20th Century Fox, Walt Disney
For Hoskins, his brother's death. For Smith, Wild Wild West.

When a lovable member of this community is suspected of murdering a human being, the hard-boiled, disillusioned detective initially believes the toon/robot is guilty, because that's how racism works. He begins his investigation by interviewing a slimy CEO in a scene that involves him drinking liquor from a tiny cup while wearing a period-appropriate hat.

Detectives drinking
20th Century Fox, Walt Disney
"Keep 'em coming. I've got to pretend to be happy Shia LaBeouf survives the last act."

Then, at the insistence of an alluring female sidekick, the detective begrudgingly accepts that the toon/robot is innocent and agrees to solve the mystery. He learns that the victim left behind a note no one can understand (a cryptic dream hidden in the memory of a robot, and a mysterious "blank" piece of paper) that, we find out later, holds the key to a convoluted scheme:

Plot devices
20th Century Fox, Walt Disney

The detective then quickly finds himself in a high-speed chase behind the wheel of a car that drives itself, a feature he considers extremely annoying rather than life-changing and incredible. The pursuit takes him directly into the heart of the community he so despises -- in Roger Rabbit, it's Toontown, whereas in I, Robot, it's future Detroit (where there is an astonishing lack of RoboCop).

Car chases
20th Century Fox, Walt Disney
You can tell it's an alternate future because citizens have jobs.

Here, the detective finally cracks the case -- the real killer is a bombastically evil toon/robot who has been masquerading as a paragon of the human justice system in order to enact some diabolical scheme.

The true villians
20th Century Fox, Walt Disney
They shot Christopher Lloyd in the face with a cannon loaded with cocaine to achieve the eye effect.

After defeating waves of henchmen, the hero dispatches the villain by exposing it to a magical substance that exists solely for the purpose of the villain's destruction, in an ending that curiously validates and reinforces the detective's bigotry -- the reviled community of metahumans was responsible for both his personal anguish and the murder at the center of the story all along. It just wasn't the specific lovable metahuman who was initially accused of the crime. So the moral of the story is, if you're harboring a deep sense of mistrust and resentment for an entire community, chances are your suspicions are absolutely correct.

Thor (2011) Is The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Thor, Odin, Loki
Marvel Studios

In a pop adaptation of a famous mythological story, the relationship between two princes becomes strained when their kingly father pits them against each other for his attention. After a monumental cock-up, the favored brother goes into exile among an alien culture, where he falls in love with a beautiful woman. Because fate is as cruel as it is predictable, he is eventually forced to protect his adopted people from the wrath of his heartbroken, embittered brother.

Clearly, that's the plot of Thor, but you might be surprised to learn that it is also the exact same story told in 1998's The Prince of Egypt (and, to a lesser degree, the Bible).

Thor and the Prince of Egypt
Marvel Studios, DreamWorks Animation
"If only there were some closer religious text we could have based Thor on ..."

Both movies begin with a cataclysmic race war and quickly shift focus to two young, mischievous princes who enjoy recklessly goofing off in ways that cause violent, expensive damage to their father's kingdom. Nevertheless, one brother is clearly the king's favorite, and his jealous, more level-headed sibling constantly shoulders the blame for his brother's bullshit.

Thor, Loki, and the Princes of Egypt
Marvel Studios, DreamWorks Animation
This doesn't even factor in the fabulous hair envy.

The two princes grow up, at which point one of the brothers discovers that he's actually adopted -- he was born to his father's cultural enemies, and the royal family took pity on him as a baby and raised him as their own, because for some reason no one foresaw that becoming a problem later on.

Loki
Marvel Studios, DreamWorks Animation
Pictured: Becoming a problem later on.

The hero (the favored brother) makes a hubris-laden mistake that gets him exiled from the kingdom. Outside the gates of his homeland, he meets a beautiful woman and a kindly old man. Through a series of fish-out-of-water hijinks, he learns to stop thinking like an inverted asshole and understand the plight of the common people.

Thor and the Prince of Egypt
Marvel Studios, DreamWorks Animation
"This whole time I've been figuratively fucking others, when I could have been literally fucking you. Thank you."

Along the way, the hero takes possession of a blunt object that can do magic.

Mjolnir and a staff
Marvel Studios, DreamWorks Animation
The hammer, Mjolnir, and the staff, Chuck.

When he returns home, he learns that his father is dead/comatose, and in his absence, his less-favored brother has risen to the throne. Also, his brother has become a total shithead, driven by an irrational desire to prove his worth to a father who is no longer in any position to care.

Rival brother ascendant
Marvel Studios, DreamWorks Animation
"How is your headdress so white with that much crap is between your ears?"

The hero tries to reconcile with his brother, but only on the condition that his brother not murder all of his newfound friends. Unfortunately, his brother tells him to go jog down the street with that nonsense, and a kingdom-demolishing battle of wills ensues.

Final battle
Marvel Studios, DreamWorks Animation
And as usual with Viking/Middle Eastern fisticuffs, the dude with the beard prevails.

The hero is finally able to deliver a spirit-crushing haymaker that shatters his brother's resolve, and he gives up. Granted, in Thor it involves a shame speech from their newly awakened father, whereas in The Prince of Egypt it involves the wholesale murder of thousands of children. But the end result is the same -- the hero is free to protect his people, and his brother is forever a dick.

Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) Is Aladdin (1992)

Jack the Giant Slayer
Warner Bros.

Aladdin and Jack the Giant Slayer are both based on fairy tales, so you can assume right off the bat that some noble peasant has to go on a journey to save a kingdom from evil. But the similarities don't end there -- the movies are basically the same, give or take the presence of giants.

Treasure rooms
Warner Bros., Walt Disney

In both movies, a plucky young man living on the fringes of poverty ventures into the local marketplace to strugglingly procure something to eat, when he spots a beautiful woman dressed in rags being accosted by some slightly rapey older men. He stands up for her, even though he's drastically outnumbered, but before he is literally murdered in the street for his gallantry, the king's guards show up and reveal that the girl is actually the crown princess of the realm, disguising herself as a commoner to get a taste of how actual people live.

Jack and Jasmine
Warner Bros., Walt Disney
Spoiler: Shittily.

Soon afterward, the hero is given a magical relic that he is told holds infinite cosmic power, but he scoffs at the relic because it looks like a pile of old, useless crap -- in one film it's a rusty old lamp, and in the other it's a bag of shitty beans.

Beans and a lamp
Warner Bros., Walt Disney
"Maybe if we make the lamp a bong to smoke the beans something will happen."

Meanwhile, the princess is commanded by her father to marry his evil bearded adviser, because that is the law of the realm (the fact that kings back then could ignore the law entirely and pretty much do whatever they wanted is never mentioned). Everyone seems to think the cartoonishly suspicious-looking adviser and his parrot sidekick are completely on the level, even though they spend most of their time skulking around the palace and scheming about a lost treasure.

Jaffar and Stanley Tucci
Warner Bros., Walt Disney
And trying to get in the pants of the teenage princess.

The villain eventually learns that the destitute young hero is in possession of the magic relic and tries to drown him so he can steal it.

Jack and Aladdin
Warner Bros., Walt Disney

The drowning doesn't work, but the villainous adviser is able to use the relic anyway to get his hands on phenomenal magic powers, which he uses to bend the kingdom to his will. Paradoxically, his will in either case doesn't go beyond "tenuous command of an army of hateful giant ogres" and "making a fat old man dance in his underwear."

Jack and Aladdin
Warner Bros., Walt Disney
"Great. Now do the Truffle Shuffle."

In the climax, the hero is forced to battle a giant evil monster, which he defeats by using the villain's own weapon against him. As a reward, the king removes the law that forbids his daughter from marrying a commoner, which he could have done in the first place, but apparently he prefers to just trade his daughter for services rendered in lieu of a paycheck.

The King and the Sultan
Warner Bros., Walt Disney
"Why the hell do you think I was trying to marry her to my adviser? I hadn't paid that guy in like six years."

The hero and the princess get married, even though they've known each other for all of two days, and they live happily ever after. Probably.

Marrying a princess
Warner Bros., Walt Disney
Three of these people look happy, and the fourth looks like he is wondering if his betrothed is going to finish that burrito.

Funny People (2009) Is The Great Gatsby (2013)

adam Sandler and Seth Rogan
Universal Studios/Columbia Pictures

Funny People sees Adam Sandler taking on the greatest acting challenge of his career as he portrays a once-funny comedian who has been reduced to making idiotic movies for truckloads of cash. The Great Gatsby has Leonardo DiCaprio playing a millionaire playboy who is dead inside and throws his money at people to make them like him. Both movies are ultimately about a rich, depressed eccentric heroically trying to have sex with a married woman and suffering tragic consequences.

Adam Sandler and Leo DiCaprio
Universal Studios/Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros.
With great power comes great adultery.

At the beginning of both films, we're introduced to a reclusive millionaire who has a reputation for being the life of the party, but in reality is completely miserable. He befriends a good-natured nobody in a chance encounter, and the two become inseparable.

Millionaires with non Millionaire friends
Universal Studios/Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros.
"Let's seal this friendship by the way of my people: cocaine three-way."

We learn that the millionaire's depression and profound douchebaggedness are both due to the fact that he's spent half of his life pining for an old girlfriend whom he has since lost touch with. Through the help of his new schlub best friend, he reconnects with her, only to discover that she's married to a guy who is even more of an asshole than he is.

Love interests
Universal Studios/Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros.
"It's OK. There's a handkerchief in my front pocket if you want to grab it ..."

Undaunted by this trivial detail, the hero seduces his former lover once again, partly by giving her clothing, and partly by being a millionaire.

Gatsby and Sandler
Universal Studios/Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros.

She admits that she loves him more than her husband, which leads to a tense dinner confrontation in which the hero demands that she admit her true feelings in front of the whole cast, in a scene that seems to suggest that the hero is only slightly more rich than everyone else.

Rich dinner
Universal Studios/Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros.
"Run away with me! My dining room is slightly larger!"

But she tearfully changes her mind at the last minute, causing the hero and her husband to have a weird anti-fight consisting of shouting and sweaty masculine posturing.

Fighting over a girl
Universal Studios/Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros.
And possible overacting-induced pants-shitting.

The girl ultimately decides to stay with her husband and work things out, while the hero is left with nothing but bundles of money to cry into. Of course, the big difference here is that The Great Gatsby surprises the viewer by unexpectedly killing Gatsby at the end, while Funny People surprises the viewer by unexpectedly not killing Adam Sandler (he spends the first half of the movie with a terminal illness, and then ... gets better). Both endings are tragic in their own right.

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