Have you ever gone to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video the week before a major film is going to be released in stores, and to your great surprise that movie is already on the shelves! And then upon closer inspection you realize that it’s not that movie at all. It’s some sort of a cheap knock off with a similar look and title. This happened to me when Transformers was released in 2007. I was unable to see the movie in the theater, so I patiently awaited its release on DVD. I remember one Friday night going to Blockbuster with my wife, looking for no movie in particular, when to my great surprise I saw 1 copy of Transformers on the new releases rack! I jumped for joy, but while in mid-air I said to myself, “Daniel, you know that movie doesn’t come out for another two weeks.” I didn’t listen to myself, I ran down the aisle knocking over little children in my path until I grab the DVD case, lifting it into the air I yelled, “TRANSMORPHERS?!?!” What the heck is this? I had been fooled.
It seems like every time a big film is coming out, some low budget, poorly produced movie is released on video a few weeks before the actual film is released. I called Paul (an employee of Blockbuster) and Leslie (an employee of Hollywood Video) and asked them if they had notice this trend of Copy Cat Movies. Paul commented that at Blockbuster they receive a Copy Cat film about once a quarter, attempting to fool hopeful movie watchers. Paul and Leslie agreed that the Copy Cat films are completely checked out the few weeks leading up to the actual release of the film.
So I guess I have a few questions for all of you. Have you seen movies like this before? What do you think about this? Is it ethical? Is there a name for this copy cat movie making? What do you think?
37 comments:
this has to be one of the more funny stories i've read. i can't believe you wanted to watch transformers so badly that you failed to look at the cover. i giggle when i imagine a grown man being that excited. don't get me wrong, i thought it was an awesome movie, it's funny to me.
copycat movies are hilirious because of the thought of some movie executive greenlight a movie called transmophers. "hmm... we had great success in 'the tourne identity' series, let's make transmophers!"
This is hilarious. Ummm.... I guess we could call them copy cat movies? I don't know. When I get to such movies on the shelf, I read the title, laugh or giggle, and then move on. I hardly know anyone who watches them.
That's really interesting. I had actauly never noticed copycat films outside of all the versions of "Remember that Titans" that they made - there's the basketball one called "Glory Road" and then there was a swimming one too.
I don't remember seeing many copy cat movies at movies rentals, but I have noticed that Hollywood sometimes makes two quality movies with a similar plot. For example, Armageddon and Deep Impact were both released within 6 months of each other, as well as A Bug's Life and Antz. This is somewhat similar to the copycat idea, but they actually are two well done films. My guess is someone got a hold of the original script and tweaked it a bit and made a similar movie, which is not ethical at all. But I honestly don't know why they make movies with similar plots so close together.
I rent movies from Red Box and always notice this. Seems like every hit movie has a somewhat similarly titled knockoff. I suppose one of these days I should rent one and see if they are even worth a buck.
what I've noticed a lot of is when a movie comes out that is a take off of a show that used to be a children's cartoon there are always a plethora of cartoons that come out on DVD in the movie stores.
I don't ever really see the "copycat" movies though...
Maybe I'm just ignorant, or never rent movies, but I have never heard of this. It's pretty funny, and I can see how Copy Cat companies would try to fool people into thinking it was the real movie just to make money off of it. Hopefully that never happens to me.
Now I had thought you were going to tell us about how Hollywood executives try to re-use the same ideas over and over (Deep Impact, Armagedden, Meteor and others).
As for your copycats, I have mostly seen this trend in cartoons. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, Aladin and others are all public domain stories, so they get copied all the time.
i don't think i've noticed any of these copy cat movies. but i do think it is kinda sad in a really funny way. I'll be on the look out from now on! did you rent and watch it? if so, how was it?
PS... maria, glory road definitely was not a copy cat movie. sure it's a sports movie dealing with race, but those were actual events that happened at the University of Texas, Al Paso... and its a great movie!
I have never heard of that before. But from what it sound like they are in infringing on a copyright law. Which breaking the law generally isn't ethical. Dang, I bet they get a lot of business though.
Wow, I have ever noticed that before, for the fact that I've abandoned Blockbusters and Hollywood movies for quite a while. But it reminds me of those mocking movies (like scary movies, date movies, or disaster movies, which make fun of other popular pictures) They all use others' popularity to make money.
I have never heard or noticed anything like this before.
The Transformer story is funny and the way that the covers look alike seems like it could possibly be somewhat unethical.
I have noticed that the genre of movies parallel each other. There are series of war movies, series of sports movies, and romantic comedies that all seems to come out around the same time.
I've seen copycats movies like this before. Ethical, I don't know, but I think that it comes down to money making. People do what they think will make money.
Animated Disney movies are probably the most "knocked-off" movies out there. A lot of these knock-offs even have the exact same title because Disney doesn't own the rights to them, e.g. Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast.
I've never heard of anyone actually buying or renting a movie like this, but obviously somebody is.
They should be called "fool films".
-Michael Williams
I have seen the same copycat effect in music. I saw some CD's that even say "Lord of the Rings" and I grabbed it, excited to hear that great movie soundtrack. Then I looked at the back and realized that I had never heard of those songs. Looking back at the front there was a little title right above the Lord of the Rings. It was like a font size 5 and it said
"music based on". I put that right back on the shelf. They do this because it works. People will grab it a listen to it because they think it is the real thing.
Truthfully, I have never noticed this. I wonder if it actually works, or if the rip-off artists are having to use rip-off money to pay their bills. I think I would like to do this with music new releases. My band's name will be something like 2U, or maybe Kearl Jam.
stop ripping on transmorphers. i really liked that one, although supergood was better (a nice, born-again twist on a raunchy film). ok i made those up. i think copycat marketing is unethical, but you gotta admit its pretty cool. i bought a fake iphone from china and it was so realistic, way cool. movies can do it too as long as i'm not the poor sucker getting duped.
I don't think that this has ever happened to me, but it is quite funny. I don't rent many movies anymore, and if I do I always go to RedBox. I can't remember the last time I went to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. I think that it's probably not ethical, but what is ethical these days? It's all about making money, and that's all that matters.
I have honestly never heard of this before. When I was reading that story all I could do was laugh...I suppose this is because I really didn't know this even happened. I don't really like the tactic, but it must work if it keeps happening.
i've only noticed this once, with the movie zodiac. my redbox had both versions (copycat and real) and i thought it was fishy. other than that, i've never heard of this "copycat" movie trend! i still think it's fishy, trying to make money off of someone elses work. could it be considered plagiarism...?
This extends beyond the reaches of the video store to the actual theaters, television and the music industry. don't believe me? what about the simultaneous release of Armageddon and Deep Impact? or Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and that copy-cat movie Eragon? Or The Prestige and The Illusionist? Or Boyz II Men and the Backstreet Boys? or their younger sister: N'SYNC?
The entertainment world's come up wanting time after time in the originality department.
I don't know what to think about this. On the one hand, they're terrible movies with terrible...everything and it's sad to think that so many in our world will watch it anyways. On the other hand, I think most people realize what they're getting themselves into, and it can be fun to make fun of and makes the movie it's copying seem way better.
I have never heard of this happening actually, but I can see how it could happen and I think it is ridiculous. It is sad when you have to trick your audience into buying your movie...
I haven't noticed this as a dominant problem, but I do understand how society is all about similar genres or knock-offs.
To me it seems like certain types of movies all come out at the same time. Just as mentioned by others with all the space/meteor type films.
Another one that comes to mind were the movies Volcano and Dante's Peak. Both movies dealt with volcano's in unlikely places, and I remember being really confused as to which movie was which. I was younger and I didn't realize that one was trying to essentially copy the other.
does Bollywood count as copy cat movies? In that case-holy cow. :) They're making bank though, so they probably shouldn't be ignored.
I also have never heard of this...
It is not ethical, (copyright laws?)
One I thought of is "EdTV" and "The Truman Show".
My cheesy response to your question- let's call those types of movies "Trick Flicks," or even better, "Faux Shows."
That is a great story! I have never had this happen to me before, and I have never heard of this happening to anyone until now. Of course this is not ethical, and they are just trying to make some money. I have seen a lot of movies with the same plot though, which is kinda the same thing. Then again, a lot of chick flicks are basically the same, and predictable. This is just another testament to why Hollywood can't come up with any more ideas. Its just easier to use the old ones and switch it up a little bit. No one will ever know!
I have noticed the copycat movies but even more than the copycats I have noticed the sequels. Aren't these at least 6 Home Alone movies? It seems like every time I am renting a movie I notice another sequel that has gone straight to video.
Yes, I am aware of this.. I think it's a smart idea by studios to earn some extra money. With so many movies losing money these days, they rely on DVD sales and rentals to break even and make a profit... DVD releases are huge. I know our generation doesn't go to Blockbuster a lot, but when I went there a lot last year you see their target market: mothers with eager children. They really don't care about quality or if it's the real thing. Kids fall in love with the upcoming or recently released hit (like Transformers) and want to consume anything relating to it. I don't consider movies like "Antz" and "A Bug's Life" as true copycats because they typically are in production for much longer with a lot of time, money and talent invested. If anything they are inspired by something. And no, they don't just get the script and "make some changes." If you go to a video store today, like 30% of the movies on the new release wall are direct to DVD movies (and very, very poor ones). They are made cheap with D-list talent and they serve one function: making money. It's ingenious.
haha... I've never actually seen anything like this. Based on your story, I wish I had so that I could have as funny of a story to tell. I think that this isn't ethical at all. It takes any art or passion out of movie-making and leaves only the drive to get money. I am surprised that people at the store don't warn the customers before they buy these copycat movies; I know I would.
I've noticed it recently that it tends to be a cartoon version of the movie. Not sure if it's the actual studio trying to capitalize on the anticipation of the release or what, but I've seen people duped by not looking at the box. Hollywood tends to do whatever possible to make that extra buck here and there.
I've never heard of copy cat movies, so I'm not sure if it's ethical or not. I can see how it would be confusing for the consumer though...and that's just not right.
I don't think it is necessarily ethical but I do think it is business. I don't think the copycat movies are anything close to the blockbusters they are copying. I don't think there really can be any restrictions on these copycats nor is there a need to really. I have seen this many times while going to the movies and can't help but laugh at their attempts to profit off the blockbuster.
I actually had this exact experience at the red box just last night. It seemed like have of the movies available were just knock offs of recently popular movies. I found it not only ridiculous, but a little disappointing. I haven't been to the theaters to see anything since Batman because honestly there hasn't been anything worth seeing in my opinion. I think the quest to make a quick profit by imitation movie schemes is one of the main reasons behind this. How about a little creativity and fresh ideas in the movie industry?
I personally have nevber seen mivies like this. But now I am very interested to look for them and keep my eyes peeled to see what knock-ofs there are.
I personally have nevber seen mivies like this. But now I am very interested to look for them and keep my eyes peeled to see what knock-ofs there are.
This post made me laugh but also feel pity for the poor guy! I think it is certainly unethical but luckily these rip off movies will not be making tons of money so I don't think we need to worry about it too much. Thanks to people like Daniel we can be educated about this kind of fraud and not fall into the same trap he did.
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