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Universal/Marvel/Disney
Some movie titles are so blisteringly original there’s no chance in hell they’ve ever been used before. The makers of Dude, Where’s My Car? presumably never had to check IMDb. Universal never had to worry about a copyright claim from another studio for the title of To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. And there really is only one Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death.
But, once in a while, a film comes along with exactly the same title as another. Here are 11 massive movies that share a name with 11 less-illustrious others…
1. Bad Boys (1983) and Bad Boys (1995)
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Solofilm
The more famous 1995 Bad Boys helped catapult Will Smith to front-line stardom and introduced the world to the ear-splitting, senses-pummelling delights of Michael Bay. It was dismissed by the critics (it has a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) but loved by audiences (it grossed over $141 million).
The 1983 Bad Boys, starring Sean Penn as a teenage hoodlum sent to reform school, on the other hand, was gushed over by critics (89% on RT), but totally shunned by cinemagoers. It didn’t get a sequel, though, so there really is only one Bad Boys II.
2. The Avengers (1998) and The Avengers (2012)
Marvel Studios
Getty Images/Warner Bros.
Before 2012, if you’d have asked most Brits who the Avengers were they’d have probably responded, “John Steed and Emma Peel, duh.” Now though, it’s a different story, but it was actually The Avengers, the super-chic 1960s spy series that got there first, hitting ITV screens two years before Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s same-titled comic book.
Despite the dismal box office of the Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman-headlining movie version in 1998, Marvel couldn’t risk any confusion for UK audiences, so The Avengers was rechristened Marvel Avengers Assemble just for us.
3. Twilight (1998) and Twilight (2008)
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Summit
Filmed with the title The Magic Hour, the 1998 Twilight is a neo-noir thriller starring Paul Newman (then 73), Susan Sarandon (50) and Gene Hackman (67). Not very teen-y then. Unlike the slushy 2008 gotharama starring a 17-year-old Kristen ‘chuckles’ Stewart and a 22-year-old Robert Pattinson.
4. Rush (1991) and Rush (2012)
Universal
Getty Images
The more well-known Rush remains Ron Howard’s 2012 biopic of Formula 1 hunkthrob James Hunt. But there was another, less heralded Rush (although, coincidentally, also set in the 1970s) released 21 years before, headlining Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jason Patric as two cops who go undercover on a drugs bust, but end up becoming addicts themselves. It’s perhaps best remembered now as the movie that Eric Clapton’s song ‘Tears in Heaven’ was written for.
5. Crash (1996) and Crash (2004)
Lionsgate
Fine Line Features
The 2004 Crash proved controversial for scooping its Best Picture Oscar over that year’s clear favourite Brokeback Mountain, while its 1996 namesake spawned headlines of a different kind.
Whereas Paul Haggis’ 2004 drama was a shameless Oscar-courting dip into race-relations waters, David Cronenberg’s unblushingly graphic adaptation of JG Ballard’s novel about people getting their rocks off from car crashes was never likely to tickle the Academy’s fancy. In fact, it was so hot to handle that Westminster Council banned the film from being screened in its borough.
6. Gladiator (1992) and Gladiator (2000)
Rex Shutterstock
Universal/Getty Images
Of the two movies with the title Gladiator, only one was a box-office smash, grossing more than $450 million worldwide and winning reviews that would make any studio punch the air with pride.
The other, about a pair of teens (played by Cuba Gooding Jr and Twin Peaks‘ James Marshall) who find themselves tangled up in the ugly world of underground boxing, sadly didn’t fare quite so well (it has an shameful rating of just 25% on the Tomatometer).
7. Notorious (1946) and Notorious (2009)
20th Century Fox
Getty Images
Notorious #1 is a black-and-white spy thriller from suspense master Alfred Hitchcock with Ingrid Bergman as a woman recruited by the US government to spy on a group of Nazis and Cary Grant as the suave secret agent she falls in love with.
So not a lot of crossover with the 2009 Notorious, the uber-shooty biopic of murdered hip-hop giant Biggie Smalls, aka the Notorious BIG
8. Frozen (2010) and Frozen (2013)
Disney
Momentum Pictures
When parents talk of ‘Frozen parties’, it doesn’t mean – let’s make this clear now – putting on screenings of this 2010 indie horror about three skiers who find themselves stranded on a ski lift in the mountains of New England, with all the kids dressing up as their favourite characters, Parker, Joe and Dan.
No, the 2010 Frozen never racked up the skyscraping box-office returns of its more beloved animated namesake, and, strangely enough, Parker, Joe and Dan never quite achieved the same iconic character status as Elsa, Anna and Olaf.
9. Independence Day (1983) and Independence Day (1996)
20th Century Fox
Warner Bros.
Thirteen years before the really famous Independence Day, there was this Hallmark-styled slushfest about a small-town girl (Kathleen Quinlan) who wants nothing more than to move to the big city and fulfill her dream of becoming a photographer. But a new man in town, and her responsibilities taking care of her own ailing mother, means she ain’t going anywhere soon. And then a great f**k-off spaceship appears from out of the sky… (we wish).
10. The Fast and the Furious (1955) and The Fast and the Furious (2001)
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Universal
They’re both about cars, but there’s not much else that bonds the 1955 and 2001 versions of The Fast and the Furious. The 1955 one was an exploitation quickie (it was lensed in just nine days on a budget of $50,000) about a trucker who, after he’s framed for murder, goes on the lam.
While the story didn’t tickle Universal, the title did, so they licensed it off original producer Roger Corman for the much faster and more furious 2001 flick (which was actually filmed with the title Redline).
11. Drive (1997) and Drive (2011)
Film District
One of these films is a bulletproof classic, a woozy, beguiling, synth-drenched neo-noir with a career-high turn from Ryan Gosling. The other is a direct-to-DVD also-ran, an achingly generic by-the-numbers thriller headlining the man who played Kung Lao in the Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series and the guy who played Dwayne Wayne on the Cosby Show spin-off, A Different World.
Yes, really.
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