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: