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While the notion of fashioning a new version of the Holmes mysteries may be elementary to many, the idea of putting two into production at the same time may not be such a hot idea—especially if you look at Hollywood’s history of movies competing with similar themes.

The phenomenon is nothing new. In 1965, two films were issued with the same name: Harlow, about the movie star sex-bomb Jean Harlow. One was a glossy production with Carroll Baker as the platinum blonde screen queen, while the other was shot in a week in a video-to-film process and starred Carol Lynley. Neither was a hit.

A year earlier, two films looked at the end of the world (as we knew it) with completely different approaches. Fail-Safe, helmed by Sidney Lumet, took the serious side of a nuclear altercation between the U.S. and Russia, ratcheting up the intensity as U.S. President Henry Fonda has to figure out how to deal with a catastrophic situation. A similar situation befalls president Peter Sellers in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, but the filmmaker took a wildly satiric approach to the material. Both were from the same studio (Columbia) and both received fine reviews. However, Strangelove was first to the theaters, and its lampooning painted a comic cloud over Fail-Safe’s intense but relentlessly grim approach. Strangelove bested Fail-Safe big at the box-office.

Here, then, is a scorecard of Hollywood movies that may have seemed like good ideas at the time, just not when they went against their doppelgangers on the big screen.

Armageddon / Deep Impact (1998)

Premise: Meteorites barreling into the Earth!

Overview: Both films were expensive, but while Armageddon took the expected Jerry Bruckheimer / Michael Bay, action-adventure approach, Deep Impact, produced by Steven Spielberg, was more serious in tone despite the similar idea. Both movies featured big casts. The former offered an odd mix of Hollywood “A” list players like Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck teamed with indie regulars like Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Buscemi and Will Patton. Deep Impact, directed by former TV specialist Mimi Leder (Pay It Forward), showcased Tea Leoni, Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood and Morgan Freeman as the President of the U.S.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Neither received glowing reviews, but Armageddon did capture a younger, more enthusiastic audience and topped Deep Impact $200 million to $140 million.

Sweepstakes Winner: Armageddon.

Dante’s Peak / Volcano (1997)

Premise: A volcano is about to erupt threatening all those who live nearby.

Overview: “Look out, Captain—it’s gonna blow!” In Dante’s Peak, Pierce Brosnan tries something different than James Bond, playing a volcanologist trying to get a South American town evacuated. And in Volcano, Tommy Lee Jones, a hyperactive emergency medical specialist, tries to warn the officials and constituents of L.A. that a big volcano could topple the city.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Neither did great in the theaters. Dante’s Peak peaked at $70 million on a budget over $100 million, while Volcano took in $45 million with a budget of $90 million. Volcano received better reviews than Dante’s Peak overall, which is like saying Earthquake was a more critically favored disaster film than Rollercoaster.

Sweepstakes Winner: Volcano by a bar of Lava.

The Abyss / Leviathan / Deepstar Six (1989)

Premise: Scientists encounter horror and mystery as they carry out underwater explorations.

Overview: James Cameron’s expensive, dangerous-to-film The Abyss was shot under a veil of secrecy, but the word that it involved lots of water and something spooky was enough to inspire George P. Cosmatos’ lower-budgeted Leviathan, starring Peter Weller and Amanda Pays, and the even lower-budgeted Deepstar Six from Friday The 13th auteur Sean S. Cunningham, with Greg Evigan and Nia Peeples. Cameron definitely took the metaphysical route with his journey, but the other two were H2O–infused horror movies.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: The Abyss received mostly positive reviews, which pointed out that it was a thinking man’s popcorn movie. The two copy-cats didn’t fare well, getting glubbed by critics. Still, The Abyss cost nearly $70 million to produce, and brought in just about $30 million, a major disappointment to Cameron and the studio. (Eight years later, Fox was understandably nervous about letting the director go back in the water with a big budget for Titanic. We’re sure they got over it.) In reality, Leviathan and Deepstar Six may have been more financially successful (or less financially disastrous) because of their cheaper costs.

Sweepstakes Winner: The Abyss, due to its ambitiousness.

The Truman Show (1998) / EdTV (1999)

Premise: A man has his life filmed for TV cameras, making him famous.

Overview: Peter Weir’s The Truman Show features Jim Carrey’s breakout performance in a semi-serious role, playing Truman Burbank, a carefree insurance salesman who has no idea his life has been scripted and chronicled on TV 24/7 since he was an infant. And in Ron Howard’s EdTV, video store clerk Matthew McConaughey gets similar TV treatment when he’s chosen to be the focus of a reality show, but in this comedy, he’s aware of the coverage.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: The Truman Show received mostly rave reviews and was nominated for three Academy Awards, although Carrey didn’t get his much-discussed nomination. EdTV received mostly positive reviews, but coming out eight months after the acclaimed, more cerebral Truman didn’t help. The Truman Show took in $125 million, while EdTV welcomed just $23 million in box-office receipts.

Sweepstakes Winner: The Truman Show. A lot of people got Carrey-ed away with it.

Real Genius / Weird Science (1985)

Premise: Teenage boys dabble with science leading to dangerous results.

Overview: Real Genius, directed by Martha Coolidge, features Val Kilmer in an early role, playing older pal to 15-year-old Gabriel Jarret, who has developed a high-powered laser, but they find that their sponsoring teacher has insidious plans for the invention. In Weird Science, teens go wild courtesy of zit maestro John Hughes, as Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith try to invent the perfect woman in pouty-lipped Kelly LeBrock. Unfortunately, their curvaceous conception comes with a price.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Neither of these films was nominated for Oscars, but Real Genius was better received than Weird Science, which for many was a turn in a sleazier direction for teen scenester Hughes. The film did give early roles to Bill Paxton and Robert Downey, Jr., inspired a TV spinoff, and featured a popular theme song by Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo. You didn’t need outstanding math boards to give Weird Science the edge on ticket sales, with $23 million-plus to Real Genius’ $13 million.

Sweepstakes Winner: This is a close one but we’re going with the more respected Real Genius.

Antz / A Bug’s Life (1998)

Premise: A misfit CGI-animated ant battles enemies—and maybe even finds romance.

Overview: DreamWorks honcho Jeff Katzenberg, whose studio produced Antz, goes against his old employer Disney, who (with Pixar) put out A Bug’s Life. Both boast all-star voice talents: Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Lopez and Dan Aykroyd worked on Antz, while Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Madeline Kahn, and Dave Foley provided voices for A Bug’s Life.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Both films were well-received, but, true to form, Pixar got the edge in terms of plaudits for their work. Some critics pointed out that Antz played like an animated Woody Allen film, and they were right -- as in “earlier, funnier Woody Allen.” Bug’s was king of the ant hill in terms of domestic receipts, $162 million to $93 million.

Sweepstakes Winner: A Bug’s Life by an antenna.

Capote (2005) / Infamous (2006)

Premise: Eccentric writer Truman Capote works on his classic In Cold Blood, chronicling brutal Kansas murders in the early 1960s.

Overview: This is a scenario where the movie that arrived first was a huge winner. In the case of Capote it was a very big win, resulting in Academy Awards, nominations and impressive box-office. It was issued in February 2006, but had a long theatrical run. While Infamous opened in September of that year, it barely played in theaters despite a high-profile supporting cast that included Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, Sigourney Weaver, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Capote won raves and placed on many critics’ top ten lists at year’s end, while Philip Seymour Hoffman captured the Oscar for Best Actor. Infamous, which employed British character actor Toby Jones as Capote, and took a lighter narrative tone than the Hoffman film in unfolding its story, generally impressed those critics who did take notice. Oscar cred helped the $7 million-budgeted Capote to a quite respectable $28 million take for an arthouse effort. Infamous, costing nearly twice as much at $13 million, did $1.1 million domestically.

Sweepstakes Winner: Capote, but Infamous is definitely worth a look.

The Prestige / The Illusionist (2006)

Premise: Magicians battle it out in period duels for romance and power.

Overview: In The Prestige, Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan works with his Batman Christian Bale, who plays a Victorian-era magician embroiled in a war with rival conjurer Hugh Jackman over tricks and women. Meanwhile, Neil Burger’s The Illusionist is set in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. and offers Edward Norton as the magic man obsessed with royal beauty Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti as the detective who dogs his tail.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Both movies showcased fine casts and period detail for reasonable budgets, and both pulled cash along with rabbits out of their proverbial hats. In fact, The Prestige did so well--$54 million—that it made a big name for its new distributor, Newmarket Films.

Sweepstakes Winner: Abracadabra…tie!

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery / 1492: Conquest Of Paradise (1992)

Premise: Christopher Columbus discovers America.

Overview: For the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ birthday, Hollywood ventured to cash in on the planned gala festivities and prepared two big-budget historical adventures about the Italian explorer. Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, directed by James Bond specialist John Glen, featured unknown French actor George Corraface in the lead, and support by Tom Selleck, Rachel Ward, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Benicio Del Toro and Marlon Brando as Torquemada. Sir Ridley Scott’s 1492, which featured Gerard Depardieu as Chris and Armand Assante, Sigourney Weaver and Frank Langella in key supporting roles, was definitely the classier of the two productions.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Great Scott! Not! Ridley’s 1492 received some nice notices, but was generally considered uneven and often slow-moving. The Discovery—the more “popcorn” of the two projects, produced by the Salkinds of Superman fame and co-written by The Godfather’s Mario Puzo—received a treacherous homecoming when it docked in theaters. Both had small returns on high budgets and neither has ever been on DVD.

Sweepstakes Winner: 1492: Conquest Of Paradise by a flag.

Mission To Mars / Red Planet (2000)

Premise: Astronauts find big trouble on the way to (or on) the fourth planet.

Overview: The high-profile Mission To Mars was helmed by Brian De Palma, starred Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins and Don Cheadle, and told of a rescue journey to find a crew that has mysteriously disappear there. Red Planet, directed by newcomer Antony Hoffman, had Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss and Tom Sizemore as the crew of a Mars trek that encounters danger while on an ecological mission.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Neither film obtained healthy reviews, although French magazine Cahiers du Cinema did call Mission To Mars one of the year’s best films. In fact, Red Planet’s filmmaker hasn’t received another directing assignment since the drubbing he received for that film. Mission also fared better at the box-office, with $60 million to Red Planet’s $23 million. Both budgets were sizable, in the $70-$90 million range.

Sweepstakes Winner: Mission To Mars, simply because it’s livelier and features De Palma’s crafty camerawork, over the comparatively inert Red Planet.

Sugar & Spice (2001) / Bring It On (2000)

Premise: Cheerleaders in trouble.

Overview: Cheerleaders were the hot theme for the new millennium, with a triple threat of titles. Sugar & Spice takes the dark comedy route, focusing on five high school friends, one of whom (Marley Shelton) becomes pregnant. This prompts the gals (who include Mena Suvari and Marla Sokoloff) to pull off a robbery to get much-needed cash. A year earlier, Bring It On looked at cheerleader competition with Kirsten Dunst as the head of a squad who encounters deceit, backstabbing and romantic entanglements as they move further in the competitive world.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Bring It On was a surprise hit with critics and audiences, winning favorable notices and a surprising $68 million at the box-office, while launching Dunst into higher profile roles. It also spawned several direct-to-video sequels. By the time Sugar & Spice came around, the sis-boom-bah fizzled. There was even an earlier cheerleader opus in 1999 called But I’m A Cheerleader, an offbeat indie comedy about a lesbian love affair between young women at a “homosexual rehab camp.” Reviews were mixed and box-office light.

Sweepstakes Winner: Give me a “B”…Give me an “R”—oh, the heck with it. It’s Bring It On.

Tombstone (1993) / Wyatt Earp (1994)

Premise: Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday battle the Clantons at the O.K. Corral.

Overview: The saga of the Earps, the Clantons and the O.K. Corral has been told onscreen many times before, most famously in John Ford’s My Darling Clementine and John Sturges’ Gunfight At The O.K. Corral. Despite the iffy prospect of releasing a western in the ‘90s, Hollywood deemed it was time to retell the story again—twice! Both were all-star affairs, but took significantly different approaches. Tombstone, with Kurt Russell as Wyatt, Val Kilmer as Doc, and support from Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe and Stephen Lang, went the popcorn route. Tombstone was also mired in production problems that made studio Disney so disenchanted that it refused to advance-screen the finished effort for critics. Meanwhile, Wyatt Earp, helmed by Lawrence Kasdan, took the long, meditative, epic route, with Kevin Costner as Earp and Dennis Quaid as Doc, both receiving able support from Gene Hackman, Mark Harmon, Bill Pullman and Tom Sizemore as Bat Masterson.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: A real surprise here: Tombstone won the critical and box-office shootout. Issued during Christmas-time, the crowd-pleasing sagebrusher brought a respectable $57 million (on a $25 million budget) and got solid reviews, many of them pointing out Kilmer’s charismatic turn as the alcoholic, tubercular Holliday. Despite its classy pedigree, Wyatt Earp, issued the following summer, drew less than half of its reported $63 million budget and received less than enthusiastic reviews.

Sweepstakes Winner: Tombstone, leaving Wyatt Earp in the dust.

The Howling / An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Premise: Laughs and scares mix as werewolves go on the prowl.

Overview: It’s not unusual to see a low-budget counterpart to a big-budget film be released earlier to steal its thunder. Here’s a case, though, where the practice had little effect and both films fared well. Directors Joe Dante and John Landis both showed off their ability to garner shocks and chuckles in equal measure with these enterprises. Dante’s Howling stars Dee Wallace as a news reporter whose investigation of a serial killer leads her to a weird rural self-help commune. Where wolves? Everywhere, it seems. Landis’s American Werewolf follows two Yanks (David Naughton, Griffin Dunne) as they find ferocious horror in the moors of England. Both films offered amazing special effects and transformation scenes that made you almost forget Lon Chaney, Jr.’s Larry Talbot.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: Both were well-received and are now regarded as classic examples of horror-comedy by genre experts. Dante’s low-budgeter brought in $18 million on its paltry $1.5 million tab, while American Werewolf saw a $30 million take on a $10 million investment. The Howling also saw six—count ‘em—sequels sans Dante that had little or nothing to with the original. There was An American Werewolf In Paris, released in 1997, that didn’t fare well with critics or catch on at the box-office.

Sweepstakes Winner: We’re giving it to The Howling—by a hair.

Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves / Robin Hood (1991)

Premise: Robin of Locksley and his Merry Men rob from the rich, give to the poor and battle the bad guys in and around Sherwood Forest.

Overview: Here’s a case where a big-budgeted, star-studded studio film squeezed its competitor to oblivion—or, in this case, TV. Kevin Costner plays the swashbuckler in the $50 million Warner Brothers epic Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, while Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio fill out the key supporting roles. The event movie’s bigness made Fox move the lower-budgeted Patrick Bergin / Uma Thurman starrer Robin Hood to the Fox Network in America for broadcast (although it played in theaters throughout Europe).

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: The reviews for Prince Of Thieves were mediocre at best, as several critics pointed to Costner’s on-again, off-again British accent. Most agreed, however, there were cool aerial arrow effects. Regardless, the film was a huge hit both in the U.S. and overseas, totaling nearly $400 million. The Bergin version has amassed a strong following over the years, with many swashbuckler boosters comparing the Irish actor’s turn favorably to Errol Flynn.

Sweepstakes Winner: Despite its popularity and Rickman’s terrific turn as the Sheriff of Nottingham, we’re going with the Bergin version.

Never Say Never Again / Octopussy (1983)

Premise: James Bond returns, in more ways than one.

Overview: Who would have thought Sean Connery would return to the role of James Bond after a 12-year absence? But here he was—and competing against second-in-line replacement Roger Moore and the producers of his previous 007 outings in the same summer! Director Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back) was recruited to make Sean shine again as the super-agent in a remake of Thunderball, while Moore tried to stop international jewel thieves and Russian terrorists with nuclear warheads.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: As expected, both films cost lots to make, and, despite Octopussy being issued four months in front of Never, both movies did about the same at the box-office, taking in about $55 million. Everyone it seemed was pulling for Connery’s triumphant return, but critics pointed out the slower pacing, disappointing musical score (courtesy of Michel Legrand) and less-than-spectacular action set pieces that came with the Never Say Never Again turf. At the same time, Octopussy was up to the same tongue-in-cheek humor, unbelievable stunts and goofy asides (007 in a gorilla suit) that came to be expected from the Moore era of Bond.

Sweepstakes Winner: We don’t mind a Moore Bond flick if it’s entertaining, and Octopussy was more fun that Never Say Never Again. This is a case in which Moore is not less.

Prefontaine (1997) / Without Limits (1998)

Premise: The triumphant and tragic life of Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine.

Overview: Although competing filmographies of topical figures frequently get announced, it’s rare that both come to fruition. But here’s a case where, in fact, both saw the light of day, and neither benefited from the situation. Prefontaine, the first dramatic feature from Hoop Dreams creators Steve James and Peter Gilbert, stars Jared Leto as the University of Oregon running phenom who finds glory under coach Bill Bowerman (R. Lee Ermey) and goes on to Olympic success, but meets an untimely demise at the age of 24. Without Limits, which was originally called Pre, was written and directed by legendary screenwriter Robert Towne, and told essentially the same story. The budget was higher than Prefontaine’s (though not lavish), and it starred Billy Crudup (in a role envisioned for Tom Cruise, who produced) as the athlete and Donald Sutherland as Bowerman.

Critical and Box-Office Success: Perhaps knowing that its big-budget counterpart was on its way, Disney gave Prefontaine little respect. The studio released the modestly budgeted film sparsely throughout the country, where it received mixed reviews. Warner kept juggling the release date for Without Limits, eventually putting it out on a limited scale a year-and-a-half after Prefontaine hit theaters. The $25 million effort sputtered, taking in less than $1 million.

Sweepstakes Winner: Without Limits. While neither film raced to victory in theaters, Without Limits is a fine character study that is extremely well-acted by Crudup and Sutherland and remains exciting and inspiring.

Like Father, Like Son (1987) / Vice Versa (1988) / 18 Again! (1988)

Premise: Dad (or granddad) switches bodies with their younger son (or grandson).

Overview: Role reversal comedies. We’ve seen them before and we’ll see them again—but three in a period of six months? Like Father has surgeon Dudley Moore drinking potion-spiked Tabasco sauce and turning into a rambunctious kid, while son Kirk Cameron becomes his borrrring father. Visa Versa finds stuffy businessman Judge Reinhold shifting places with high school student son Fred Savage, thanks to the magic of an ancient skull. 18 offers George Burns is the 81-year old millionaire who gets a new lease on life—and new body—when he trades places with grandson Charlie Schlatter.

Critical and Box-Office Consensus: While none of them made big waves at the box-office, Like Father, Like Son did decent business, probably because it was first out of the box and Dudley Moore has not hit the box-office downslide that was to occur shortly afterward in his career. By the time the other two movies came, audiences had a distinct “been there, done that” feeling that didn’t add to their box-office appeal.

Sweepstakes Winner: Even though three entries have similar premises, similar wacky comedy sequences, and similar lessons learned by role reversals, we’re going with Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage in Vice Versa. Reinhold does some nifty physical comedy routines, Savage brings his Wonder Years likeability to the table, and the script by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (The Commitments, Across The Universe) is genuinely affecting.

Did we make any glaring omissions? Drop us a line at movieirv@moviesunlimited.com and let us know!

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