15 Trendsetting Movies That Other Studios Blatantly Piggybacked On

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15 Trendsetting Movies That Other Studios Blatantly Piggybacked On

The act of creation is no easy feat. To come up with something entirely new, groundbreaking and interesting…well, it takes talent, luck and a ton of hard work.' Making movies is no exception to this rule. Movie’s (well, good movies) take a long time to make. So by the time everyone else scrambles to get in on the hot new money-maker, the trend might be over. 

Of course, as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's the case, then the major motion picture business is one of the friendliest places around. Whether it be leaning on standard formats, utilizing classic tropes and story arcs, or just plain stealing other's ideas, Hollywood is rife with titles that look suspiciously like one another. Sometimes, this can be more obvious than others, especially when some new trend sweeps the box office.

For example, Tim Burton's Batman was a smashing success--prompting a bunch of copycat films that did not quite land.

These 15 trends came and went, and some movies failed to capitalize:

JAWS CRACKED.COM In 1975, Jaws became the first ever Summer Blockbuster and was the first film to earn $100 million in U.S rentals. Its huge success had studios jumping on the bandwagon with titles like Mako: The Jaws of Death, Orca, Barracuda, and Piranha. Spielberg declared Piranha the best of the Jaws rip-offs.

Source: ranker

DIE HARD CRACKED.COM In 1988, Die Hard earned more than $140 million worldwide. This success led to a many 90s clones where an outnumbered hero is trapped in a single setting. Many (like Air Force One and Under Seige) were highly successful, but 1991's Toy Soldiers and 1992's Passenger 57 were critical and financial flops.

Source: ranker

HALLOWEEN CRACKED.COM In 1978, the 1st of the now 12-film franchise was made for $325k and made $47 million in the U.S. alone. In the early 1980s, studios cranked out similar holiday slasher films like New Years Evil, Mother's Day, and To All A Good Night, but none of them were remotely close to the success of Halloween.

Source: ranker

THE EXORCIST CRACKED.COM Raking in 441 million, 1973's The Exorcist is one of the most influential and successful horror films ever made. From 1974 to 1979, imitations like Abby, Beyond the Door, The Devil's Rain, Race with the Devil, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, The Haunting of Julia, Ruby, and The Legacy all paled in comparison.

Source: flashbak

TWISTER CRACKED.COM In the '90s, countless volcanoes, meteors, and twisters threatened protagonists everywhere. By the early 2000s, Hollywood's priorities shifted to fantasies like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, so disaster movies like The Core did nowhere near as well.

Source: looper

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