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Dueling Works / Film - Comedy

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Dueling Works — Film
Animation | Comedy | Drama | Horror | Period Pieces | Sci-Fi | Spy Fiction | Superhero | War | Cross-Genre

  • Initiators / Followers
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Description
    • Implementation: Implementation
  • Victor/Victoria (1982) / Tootsie (1982)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 1982 comedies in which an out-of-work performer resorts to posing as the opposite gender to get a job. Career success comes with romantic challenges due to having to keep up the charade.
    • Implementation: The former film is about a woman masquerading as a man (selling "himself" as a female impersonator) in 1930s Paris, and is a diegetic musical; the latter has a man masquerading as a woman to land a Soap Opera role in what was then present-day New York City.
  • Ghostbusters (1984) / Gremlins (1984)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both movies are horror-comedies about ghouls threatening a society of humans.
    • Implementation: Ghostbusters was about three scientists who start a business in catching ghosts and eventually deal with evil gods. Gremlins was about a Mogwai named Gizmo, who, after getting water spilled on him by accident, creates new Mogwais that wreak havoc.
  • Into the Night (1985) / After Hours (1985)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Black Comedies about a nebbishy office worker whose chance late night meeting with a beautiful, mysterious woman spirals into a wild series of encounters with assorted oddballs that puts the man in danger.
    • Implementation: Both films were comebacks for their directors after their previous project ran into controversy: Into the Night for John Landis after the deaths on Twilight Zone: The Movie, After Hours for Martin Scorsese after his first attempt to make The Last Temptation of Christ was canceled by the studio. Into the Night is a commercial, big-budget comedy/thriller set in Los Angeles, After Hours is an arty, lower-budget Kafka Komedy set in New York.
  • Weird Science (1985) / Real Genius (1985)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Teen comedies with science-fiction elements released in 1985.
    • Implementation: Weird Science had two dorks who create the most beautiful woman to become popular, while Real Genius focuses on the trials of Teen Geniuses as a CIA agent plots to take credit for the protagonist's prize-winning laser.
  • Transylvania 6-5000 (1985) / Once Bitten (1985)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Horror parodies released in November 1985, just one week apart from each other, both capitalizing on the success of Ghostbusters (1984). Each features a mix of established and up-and-coming performers, and a seductive female vampire.
    • Implementation: Transylvania 6-5000 has two tabloid reporters (one credulous, one not) visiting a village to report on a sighting of the Frankenstein monster and encountering an old-fashioned but comic Monster Mash. Once Bitten sees its beautiful vampire in Hollywood, trying to seduce a virginal high-schooler in order to remain youthful. A key difference between the two is that in the former the "monsters" are really human misfits.
  • Spies Like Us (1985) / Ishtar (1987)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Spiritual Successors to the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road To... comedies, with Hope himself cameoing in Spies.
    • Implementation: Spies was a Cold War satire, specifically mocking the Strategic Defense Initiative (aka the "Star Wars" project), while Ishtar was a more traditional comedy.
  • Big Trouble in Little China (1986) / The Golden Child (1986)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 1986 released fantasy, comedy adventure films that sees a meet of East and West, containing strong links to Chinese culture and mythology. Both featuring a major character in a Westerner coming reluctantly into the "Eastern" conflict.
    • Implementation: Director John Carpenter was at one point attached to direct The Golden Child before having a falling out with the producers over creative differences. After which he’d quite interestingly enough get on board to direct Big Trouble in Little China. Carpenter himself has said that he believes that it was no coincidence that two films with such similar subject matters were made around the same time. It is also notable that both films feature the actors Victor Wong, James Hong, and Peter Kwong.
  • Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) / Throw Momma from the Train (1987)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Buddy comedy films released less than a month apart in the year 1987. Both starring a duo of characters. One who is a straight-laced and struggling straight man while the other a lonely and awkward overweight man who is the more eccentric/comedic character who means well but continually is a hassle. The former starts off contemptuous to his counterpart, but slowly and surely as they go through their ordeals together warms up to and by the end befriends him.
    • Implementation:
  • K-9 (1989) / Turner and Hooch (1989)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: "Police officer teamed up with dog" flicks, both released within a few months of each other in 1989. Top Dog was too late to enter the race.
    • Implementation: K-9 was released first, and co-starred James Belushi and an Alsatian, while Turner and Hooch teamed Tom Hanks with a French mastiff. Oh, and the dog in K-9 survived, but his counterpart in Turner and Hooch was... less lucky.
  • Say Anything... (1989) / She's Out of Control (1989)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 1989 romantic-comedy films about a certain coming-of-age aspect of high-school life. She's Out of Control dealt with a father, played by Tony Danza, dealing with his daughter hitting puberty and wanting to look more adult, much to his chagrin, while Say Anything... had two students who had just graduated high school, with the average-yet-charming student, played by John Cusack, attempting to woo the socially awkward valedictorian, played by Ione Skye. Both of these movies were released the same day, April 14, 1989, and were reviewed on one episode of Siskel & Ebert.
    • Implementation: Say Anything... was distributed by 20th Century Fox, while Columbia Pictures distributed She's Out of Control.
  • Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) / Home Alone (1990)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Family films featuring children who navigate dangerous situations on their own while their parents try their absolute hardest to find them. Both films feature cast members from SCTV, with RickMoranis in the former and CatherineOHara and JohnCandy in the latter.
    • Implementation: Both films are owned by Disney (the former film was released by Walt Disney Pictures, while the latter was made by 20th Century Fox, now owned by Disney).
  • The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) / Dave (1993)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Satires about the American Political System, namely the federal government, with a protagonist that masquerades their way through Washington politics and is appalled at the corruption therein.
    • Implementation: The Distinguished Gentlemen deals with Congress, as Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Eddie Murphy) is a conman who wins his way into a congressional seat. Dave deals with the White House, as the title character (Kevin Kline) is a presidential impersonator who's forced to step in for the real president.
  • The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) / Addams Family Values (1993)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 1993 released films that are adaptations of classic television shows about a kooky and wealthy family that does not quite fit in with and puts off those around them. The plots of both of these films in particular having a villainous charcter try to marry a member of the family in order to get their hands on their fortune.
    • Implementation:
  • Three of Hearts (1993) / Threesome (1994)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Movies released in 1993 and 1994 respectively about a love triangle centering around a heterosexual, a homosexual and a bisexual.
    • Implementation: Both movies featured appearances by a cast member from Twin Peaks and one of the Baldwin brothers. The former starred Sherilyn Fenn and William Baldwin while the latter starred Lara Flynn Boyle and Stephen Baldwin.
  • The Sandlot (1993) / The Little Rascals (1994)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Mid-90’s children’s movies with a retro aesthetic focusing on a group of young boys who get into ordinary yet wacky adventures.
    • Implementation: The Sandlot is a period piece that is set in the early 1960s about a group of kids who play baseball together. The Little Rascals, while based on a series of short films from the 1930s, is set in the present day (though the characters' wardrobes harken back to the Our Gang era) and focuses on a group of boys who hate girls. While Sandlot is about a new kid trying to fit in the group, Rascals deals with a long-time member beginning to drift away. Also, both films prominently feature a dog.
  • Trading Mom (1994) / North (1994)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Children's fantasies about children ridding themselves of their parents and going off to find new ones. Along the way, a mysterious magical being is seen guiding the children and encouraging them to respect the parents they already had.
    • Implementation: North had the benefit of a large budget, an A-List cast, a top director, and various locales. The titular character (Elijah Wood) sues his parents and goes on a worldwide trip auditioning parents that have the tendency to act like 1950s Looney Tunes foreigners, while Bruce Willis appears as North's guardian angel. Trading Mom is a smaller-budgeted affair where three children use a next-door neighbor's magic spell to wish their single mom (Sissy Spacek) out of existence, then go to the "Mommy Market" to audition potential new mothers, all played by Spacek.
  • Richie Rich (1994) / Blank Check (1994)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Children's comedies that both focus around pre-teen boys with access to obscene amounts of wealth, inherited in Richie Rich, and accidentally acquired from the titular blank check in that film.
    • Implementation: Richie Rich was a live-action adaptation of the Harvey Comics character, while Blank Check was an original story.
  • Gordy (1995) / Babe (1995)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live action movies that involve talking pigs, both released in 1995.
    • Implementation: Gordy featured a piglet that changes the lives of the people he meets while searching for his family, while Babe focused on a pig raised by a shepard that wants to become a sheepdog.
  • Dunston Checks In (1996) / Ed (1996)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Comedies where great apes besides gorillas form a kinship with humans, respectively an orangutan and a chimpanzee, and starring two actors from top TV sitcoms at the time, respectively Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) and Matt LeBlanc (Friends).
    • Implementation: Dunston Checks In is about the titular orangutan who turns on his abusive owner, a jewelry thief, and befriends the son (Eric Lloyd) of a hotel doorman (Alexander) when the thief is attempting to steal from the hotel in question, while Ed is about a baseball team's former chimpanzee mascot who teams up with a reluctant farmboy-turned minor league player (LeBlanc) to help their team clinch a national championship. A major difference between the two films is how the great apes are portrayed: Dunston featured a real-life orangutan portraying the title character, while Ed has its titular character as (according to LeBlanc) a human in a mechanical chimpanzee head.
  • Kazaam (1996) / Space Jam (1996)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two 1996 sports comedy films with the two most recognized NBA superstars of the 1990's, Shaquille O'Neal (in Kazaam) and Michael Jordan (in Space Jam). Kazaam is a more musical feature with a rap angle that sees a young boy find a jukebox with Shaq as a genie in it, and just like Aladdin, he gets three wishes with the rapping genie; of course, someone else wants the genie. Space Jam is a more high-profile feature because it is a Looney Tunes film, with Michael Jordan getting pulled into a basketball game by Bugs Bunny & co to protect themselves from cartoon aliens and their leader, as played by Danny Devito. This movie is akin to Who Framed Roger Rabbit by having live-action actors in an animated setting. This film is based on Jordan's retirement from the NBA and subsequently rejoining the league.
    • Implementation: Since Looney Tunes characters are in Space Jam, it is clear that Warner Bros. made the movie; Arch-Enemy Disney/Touchstone Pictures made Kazaam.
  • Happy Gilmore (1996) / Tin Cup (1996)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 1996 comedies about a washed-up loser who takes up golfing, and ends up in a championship match against his smug rival.
    • Implementation: The girl in Tin Cup is the whole reason why Kevin Costner's character starts golfing, while the girl in Happy Gilmore is just a footnote in Adam Sandler's quest to raise money to pay off his grandmother's debts. Also, Happy Gilmore relies a lot more on slapstick.
  • Private Parts (1997) / Ringmaster (1998)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Comedies released in 1997 and 1998 respectively, starring controversial media personalities — namely Howard Stern and Jerry Springer.
    • Implementation: Private Parts starred and was written by Stern, who appeared As Himself. Springer technically wasn't playing himself (his character was called Jerry Farrelly), though his fictional counterpart and his show were 99% the same as the real-life Jerry Springer Show.
  • Knock Off (1998) / Rush Hour (1998)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Rush Hour was a comedy-action movie teaming martial arts star Jackie Chan with comedian Chris Tucker. Knock Off had a similar set up by teaming Jean-Claude Van Damme with Rob Schneider.
    • Implementation: While many people have accused Knock Off of being a, uh, knock-off made to capitalize on Rush Hour, it was actually released a month before the latter movie.
  • The Truman Show (1998) / EDtv (1999)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both films revolve around a guy whose every moves are followed by TV cameras.
    • Implementation: The Truman Show has its protagonist unaware of the true nature of his life, and revolves around discovering it and attempting to escape. EDtv has its protagonist living in the real world and signing up for the show, and him dealing with the ramifications on his life and loss of privacy.
  • She's All That (1999) / 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 1999 teen romantic comedies in which a male lead is given an ulterior motive to get an "unconventional" girl to date him, only for him to fall for her.
    • Implementation: The former film's suitor is a "cool kid" in a bet with his friends, and the girl is in the "artsy" crowd. The latter film has a suitor who's being paid to pursue the girl by another boy interested in the girl's sister, focuses about equally on each of two couples, and has a more diverse mix of social groups portrayed. Both are based on older romantic works.
  • Bedazzled (2000) / Little Nicky (2000)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Comedies released within a month of each other involving the Devil and demons.
    • Implementation:
  • Max Keeble's Big Move (2001) / Big Fat Liar (2002)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Two movies released within six months of each other about a kid seeking revenge on an adult or, in Max's case, adults.
    • Implementation:
  • Orange County (2002) / Stealing Harvard (2002)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2002 films about two guys finagling their way into the good graces of a prestigious university.
    • Implementation:
  • Chasing Liberty (2004) / First Daughter (2004)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2004 romantic comedies about rebellious college-aged daughters of a fictitious sitting U.S. President evading their secret service detail in order to hang out with a mysterious love interest.
    • Implementation:
  • Surviving Christmas (2004) / Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Christmas comedies released in the same year that both feature protagonists trying to adjust to Christmas in odd plans that go haywire. Both featured big actors, with Ben Affleck starring in the former and Tim Allen starring in the latter, respectively.
    • Implementation: Surviving focused on a lonely wealthy man who pays a couple occupying his childhood home to pose as his family and spend the holidays with them, while Kranks featured a couple who decided to skip Christmas at the behest of their local community. Oddly enough, both films featured aborted Christmas trips to sunny locations, adult daughters of the couples who interfere with the story, and questionable messages about anti-consumerism that weren't even upheld by the films themselves. Surviving was also originally slated for a Christmas 2003 release, but was pushed back to make room for Affleck's Paycheck.

  • Rebound (2005) / The Bad News Bears (2005)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Family comedies about tempestuous middle-aged athletes who find themselves in charge of a rag-tag team of youngsters.
    • Implementation: "Rebound" is about basketball and "Bears" is about baseball. "Bears" is also a remake of an older film which "Rebound" was accused of ripping off.

  • Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005) / Yours, Mine, and Ours (2005)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Family comedies released during the 2005 holiday season about large families based on pre-existing films or books.
    • Implementation: The former, a sequel to the 2003 film Cheaper by the Dozen—itself based on a book and 1950 film—focuses on a family with twelve kids led by Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt spending summer vacation at a lake where an old rivalry between Martin and Eugene Levy reignites. The latter, based on a 1968 film, focuses on two separate families uniting when Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo fall in love, to the ire of their respective eight and ten kids.
  • Cars (2006) / Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2006 comedies about arrogant, self-absorbed race car drivers (the former actually being the race car), the former being CGI and the latter being live-action.
    • Implementation: The former is a Pixar film, the latter has Will Ferrell.
  • Deck the Halls (2006) / Unaccompanied Minors (2006)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2006 Christmas family comedies. the former starred Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick, whereas the latter featured Lewis Black and Wilmer Valderrama.
    • Implementation: Both movies featured appearances by cast members of Arrested Development. The former featured Alia Shawkat as the daughter of Matthew Broderick's character, while the latter had Jessica Walter and Tony Hale in bit cameos. In fact, the latter film was directed by Paul Feig, the Freaks and Geeks/Bridesmaids scribe who directed a few episodes of Arrested.
  • Sex and the City (2008) / The Women (2008)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: New York-set, Costume Porn- fillednote  Chick Flick about four close older female friends (a romantic, a cynic, a prude, and a slut) band together when relationship troubles loom.
    • Implementation: The Women is based on a play (which had already had a fondly remembered film adaptation made in 1939); said play is about how ridiculously cruel women are to each other. Another feature of the play/film is that no men are ever seen or even heard in a kind of faux-Gendercide.
  • Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) / Ramona and Beezus (2010)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Family films based on a series of children's books about a young female protagonist whose father loses his job and faces eviction from their home.
    • Implementation: Kit Kittredge is a mystery adventure film, while Ramona and Beezus is more of a Slice of Life adaptation. Also, the former is set in 1934 at the height of The Great Depression, while the latter is set in then-Present Day 2010 (during the aftermath of the Great Recession).
  • Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) / Observe and Report (2009)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Early-2009 comedies about overweight mall security guards attempting to foil criminals.
    • Implementation: The former stars Kevin James, and is mostly a silly action-movie parody. The latter stars Seth Rogen, and is a mismarketed Black Comedy about socially dysfunctional people.
  • Funny People (2009) / The Ugly Truth (2009)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Comedy films from the people behind Knocked Up, both released in the summer of 2009. Director Judd Apatow and lead actor Seth Rogen made Funny People, whereas lead actress Katherine Heigl was the female lead in The Ugly Truth.
    • Implementation: In the intervening two years, Heigl had burned her bridges with Apatow and Rogen in a series of rather opinionated interviews.
  • Couples Retreat (2009) / Date Night (2010)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Stressed out parents get away from their kids.
    • Implementation:
  • Killers (2010) / Knight and Day (2010)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2010 Spy-themed Rom Coms about a hitman and a normal gal who get caught up in his espionage hijinks.
    • Implementation: The Tourist, also 2010, is rather similar to those films only the gender roles are reversed.
  • Bridesmaids / Bachelorette
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2011 raunchy R-rated female-led comedies about a group of bridesmaids behaving badly.
    • Implementation: A subversion, as Bachelorette was adapted from a 2010 play, but the move to adapt was suspected of being a cash grab to capitalize on the massive success of Bridesmaids. Rebel Wilson appeared in both.
  • Bad Teacher (2011) / Young Adult (2011)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2011 R-rated comedies about beautiful blondes being breathtakingly bratty and/or bitchy.
    • Implementation: Bad Teacher is a mainstream comedy in the Judd Apatow mold, while Young Adult is more cynical and autobiographical.
  • The Muppets (2011) / Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Long Runner franchise-based family movies where Funny Animal characters interact with humans (portrayed by celebrity actors). Both movies feature various musical numbers.
    • Implementation: While Alvin 3 mostly relied on demographically inappropriate and crude humor to appeal to older audiences, and was a sequel to a kids' movie that had already been a big hit, The Muppets relied on nostalgia for Jim Henson's brand of entertainment as seen on The Muppet Show. Also notable is that Alvin 3's Funny Animals were rendered in CGI (a bigger draw for kids), whereas the ones in The Muppets were... well, Muppets.
  • Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer (2011) / Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Films based on a series of children's books following a preteen protagonist navigating their summer break period.
    • Implementation: Judy Moody is a standalone release, while Dog Days is the second sequel to the 2010 film "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid"
  • This Is the End (2013) / The World's End (2013)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2013 comedies revolving around a group of survivors living in the apocalypse, from critically acclaimed comedy writers and actors.
    • Implementation: This is the End is about a group of celebrities Adam Westing during the biblical apocalypse, written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express). The World's End revolves around a group of friends reliving a pub crawl only to uncover a plot that could lead to the extinction of humanity, written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), directed by the former and acted by the latter and Nick Frost.
  • This Is the End (2013) / Rapture-Palooza (2013)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2013 comedies about the biblical Rapture, both starring Craig Robinson.
    • Implementation: This is the End has Craig Robinson being a part of the ensemble cast of celebrities trying to survive during the apocalypse, while in Rapture-Palooza he is none other than The Antichrist who wants to make a human woman his bride.
  • Ride Along (2014) / Let's Be Cops (2014)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2014 buddy comedies centering around cops, but at least one of which really isn't one.
    • Implementation:
  • Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) / Spy (2015) & The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2015 spy comedies. While Kingsman is centered on a fictitious British spy agency in the style of James Bond, Spy focuses on a CIA secretary who becomes pressed for field work. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a Cold War period piece concerning a team-up between a CIA and KGB agent.
    • Implementation: Kingsman is based on a graphic novel and serves as a deconstruction of the Tuxedo and Martini spy genre. Spy is an original comedy from Paul Feig, though it still plays the James Bond formula for laughs. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. acts as a prequel to the TV series of the same name, including a lower-key parody of Tuxedo and Martini tropes and the humor seemingly spawning from playing the tropes straight.
  • Nine Lives (2016) / Absolutely Anything (2017) note 
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Comedies in which a famous comedian voices a talking animal.
    • Implementation: While the talking animal is key to the plot of both films, Absolutely Anything does not focus that much on the animal, as it is more about the journey of the man he accompanies. Also, while Kevin Spacey was alive when Nine Lives was released, Absolutely Anything was the last role of Robin Williams, as he died shortly after recording his lines.
  • Rough Night (2017) / Girls Trip
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both films center around a cast of women taking a road trip that goes wild, with R-rated results.
    • Implementation: Rough Night has a mostly white cast and was advertised to publications like Cosmopolitan, Girls Trip has a mostly black cast and was advertised on Essence instead.
  • A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) / Daddy's Home 2 (2017)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Sequels focusing on parents of opposing genders where the dads' dads and moms' moms respectively visit for Christmas. Released on consecutive weekends.
    • Implementation:
  • Paddington 2 (2017) / Christopher Robin (2018)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live action installments of long-running literature and animation franchises about a well-meaning but bumbling teddy bear and his friends.
    • Implementation:
  • The Lovebirds (2020) / The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2020)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: A group of villains goes after a family/couple during a vacation.
    • Implementation: The Lovebirds is made by Media Rights Captical who also made 30 Minutes or Less while The Mitchells vs. The Machines is made by Phil Lord and Chris Miller who also made The Lego Movie.
  • Tom & Jerry (2021) / Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live-action adaptations of beloved children's mammal icons.
    • Implementation: Both movies were meant to release in the holiday season in 2020, but got delayed to the year after.
  • A Loud House Christmas (2021) / Christmas Again (2021)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live-action holiday-themed TV movies on competing kids' cable channels.
    • Implementation: The former is a live-action adaptation of the Animated Series of the same name and aired on Nickelodeon, while the latter is an original idea and aired on Disney Channel.
  • Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021) / Turning Red (2022)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Movies focusing on a middle school-aged girl and a big red animal.
    • Implementation: In Clifford, Emily Elizabeth and Clifford are two separate characters, while in Turning Red, the main character is a girl whose alternate form is the big red animal in question.
  • Barbie (2023) / Poor Things (2023)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 2023 fantasy comedies focusing on a naive, childlike young woman who leaves her home and goes on a journey across the world, losing her innocence in the process, with a focus on gender inequality and trying to reform a patriarchal society. A male Love Interest that the woman realizes she doesn't actually love serves as an important supporting character. Both films also star well-respected A-list actresses (Margot Robbie and Emma Stone, respectively) and are considered to be major competitors in the year's upcoming awards season.
    • Implementation: Barbie is the latest IP of a a long-running franchise and follows a Barbie doll who has an existential crisis and develops complex human emotions due to her owner, leading her to go to the real world to try to fix it and learn that it's not what she expected, while Poor Things follows a woman brought back to life who travels around the world, experiences sexual liberation, and starts demanding for equality. Barbie is set in modern times, while Poor Things is set in the Victorian era. While Barbie in Barbie makes it very clear that she doesn't want to go to the real world and would prefer to stay in Barbieland, Bella Baxter in Poor Things is eager to see the world and runs away from the Mad Scientist who resurrected her to do so. Barbie is rated PG-13 and appeals to almost all demographics, while Poor Things is rated R and very much earns that rating through its many raunchy sex scenes. Even their brand of comedy is different: Barbie is wacky, satirical, and heavily tongue-in-cheek, while Poor Things is more surreal and darkly comedic.
  • IF (2024) / Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Movies that deal with a man in a world where fantastical things become real.
    • Implementation: IF centers around a man and a girl who can see imaginary friends reuniting them with their owners, while Harold And The Purple Crayon is an adaptation of the classic children's book that reimagines the main character as an adult whose drawings come to life.

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