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A Blast From Interviews Past: Mila Kunis & Ashton Kutcher
Hollywood has a happening astir making the aforesaid movie much than once. And often astatine the aforesaid time.
Over the years, we've watched arsenic an thought takes clasp of the municipality successful specified a mode that films released wrong months of 1 different upwind up competing due to the fact that they are, successful essence, telling the aforesaid story. In 1997, it was Dante's Peak vs. Volcano. A twelvemonth later, moviegoers chose sides successful the asteroid movie face-off betwixt Deep Impact and Armageddon. In 2004, the adventures of the president's girl were apical of caput successful some Chasing Liberty and First Daughter.
It's a improvement known arsenic the duplicate films, calved retired of a somewhat cutthroat manufacture that's smaller than you mightiness think, wherever a walk connected producing a publication conscionable mightiness pb to the tendency to vie with it instead. And it dates backmost to the precocious '30s when Bette Davis, having been denied the relation of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, reportedly sought retired a movie of her ain astir a strong-willed Southern pistillate acceptable against the backdrop of the Civil War. And conscionable similar that, Jezebel arrived successful 1938, positioned arsenic a rival for the 1939 film.
While the duplicate movie conception is nearly a period aged astatine this point, we're officially a decennary retired from 1 of the astir amusing examples of the cinematic coincidence. We're talking, of course, astir the 2011 merchandise of both No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits.
What astir these 2 films hitting theaters months isolated makes america chuckle whenever we deliberation of them, speech from the information that they're some somewhat racy romanticist comedies astir 2 friends who effort a casual intersexual relationship, lone to make feelings? Well, it's the information that each features 1 erstwhile That '70s Show co-star and aboriginal spouse of the other, with Ashton Kutcher toplining the erstwhile and Mila Kunis the latter. (Even funnier? Kutcher's No Strings Attached co-star was Natalie Portman, caller disconnected her Oscar triumph for Black Swan—which co-starred Kunis.)
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No Strings Attached deed theaters first, connected Jan. 21, aft changing its sanction from—you guessed it—Friends with Benefits. Kunis' Friends with Benefits arrived successful July. And though the second had to woody with the optics of being an imitator of the earlier, it really won astatine the container office, taking successful $1.2 cardinal much than No Strings Attached erstwhile each was said and done.
At the time, Kunis defended her film's beingness successful the shadiness of Kutcher's, telling The Arizona Republic, "A batch of romanticist comedies oregon comedies successful general, they person the aforesaid idea. It doesn't mean that you get from A to Z the aforesaid way. I don't consciousness similar our movies are astatine each akin whatsoever...It's conscionable 2 antithetic movies. There's only, nevertheless Shakespeare enactment it, truthful galore stories you tin archer successful the world. This is conscionable 1 of the many."
More importantly, she would aboriginal admit to a spot of beingness imitating art. During a 2018 quality connected the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, Kunis said, "I did a movie called Friends With Benefits. He did a movie that was precise akin called No Strings Attached. We lived our movies out. We were conscionable like, let's conscionable hook up. Let's person fun. We're some single. We some spot each other. Everything's great."
With Kutcher separated from then-wife Demi Moore successful precocious 2011, helium and Kunis—clearly neither holding immoderate benignant of grudge implicit their competing films—began dating successful aboriginal 2012 and were engaged by February 2014. Daughter Wyatt Isabelle arrived that October. Kutcher and Kunis were joined successful July 2015, with lad Dimitri Portwood arriving the pursuing year. Talk astir a existent Hollywood blessed ending.
Now, take a look astatine the astir memorable duplicate films to person arrived successful theaters some earlier and since. There are rather a fewer of them.
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Turner & Hooch/K-9
These 2 1989 films shared the premise of an acquisition bull being partnered with a canine to lick crimes. Hilarity inevitably ensued.
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Kalifornia/Natural Born Killers
Eleven months stood betwixt these 2 films each astir a mates engaging successful multi-state sidesplitting sprees, released successful 1993 and 1994 respectively. Both took inspiration from real-life slayer Charles Starkweather, and some starred Juliette Lewis.
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Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat
Hollywood wanted successful connected the rising involvement successful video games, releasing these 2 martial arts enactment films based connected arcade fixtures wrong 8 months of different successful 1994 and 1995.
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Showgirls/Striptease
There were lone 9 months betwixt the former's merchandise successful 1995 and the latter's successful 1996. While Showgirls has gone down successful past arsenic 1 of the astir infamous flops successful movie history, Striptease is simply a mostly forgotten blip successful prima Demi Moore's career.
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Dante's Peak/Volcano
Hollywood was obsessed with volcanic eruptions successful 1997, arsenic these 2 catastrophe films starring Pierce Brosnan and Tommy Lee Jones, respectively, made their mode to theaters conscionable 2 months apart.
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Saving Private Ryan/The Thin Red Line
1998 saw the merchandise of these dueling WWII films conscionable 5 months isolated from 1 another. Both were captious favorites from A-list directors (Steven Spielberg and Terrence Malick, respectively), some mislaid the Oscar for Best Picture to Shakespeare successful Love.
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Antz/A Bug's Life
Animators had insects connected the encephalon successful 1998 arsenic Pixar and Dreamworks some told tales of a non-conformist ant who falls successful emotion with an ant princess, leaves the mound and returns a hero.
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Armageddon/Deep Impact
The catastrophe connected Hollywood's caput successful 1998? Asteroids. These 2 films were released lone 2 months apart.
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The Truman Show/Ed TV
It was Jim Carrey vs. Matthew McConaughey erstwhile these 2 films astir a man's beingness being a 24-hour world TV amusement were released wrong 9 months of each different successful 1998 and '99.
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Entrapment/The Thomas Crown Affair
In 1999, 2 antheral actors champion known for playing James Bond (Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan, respectively) each starred successful his ain movie astir a antheral creation thief becoming entangled with the pistillate security researcher pursuing him.
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House connected Haunted Hill/The Haunting
Both based connected root worldly from 1959, oddly enough, these 2 films released successful 1999 featured radical tricked into staying successful immoderate spooky homes nether mendacious pretenses.
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The Matrix/eXistenZ
These 2 sci-fi films released successful 1999 featured stories that questioned whether the satellite was existent oregon an illusion. Both dealt with a virtual world contained successful a machine program, but lone 1 launched an enduring franchise.
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Scary Movie/Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth
Hot disconnected the resurgence of the teen slasher flick successful the precocious '90s, 2 films spoofing the likes of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer deed theaters successful 2000. Only 1 of them went connected to spawn a franchise, for amended oregon worse. (Have you seen Scary Movie 5? We remainder our case.)
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Chasing Liberty/First Daughter
In 2004, Mandy Moore and Katie Holmes some got to play the rebellious girl of the President of the United States successful romanticist comedies.
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Red Eye/Flightplan
2005 saw Rachel McAdams and Jodie Foster each prima successful their ain thriller acceptable connected an airplane.
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United 93/Flight 93
Both of these 2006 films dramatized the tragic events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 arsenic they unfolded connected Sept. 11, 2001.
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The Prestige/The Illusionist
Moviegoers were treated to not one, but 2 films astir 19th period magicians successful 2006.
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Zodiac/The Curse of the Zodiac
Though lone 1 made it to theaters—the second went nonstop to DVD—both of these 2007 films brought the hunt for the infamous serial slayer to life.
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Despicable Me/Megamind
Both 2010 animated films focused connected a villain who'd turned evil pursuing a atrocious puerility flirting with the bully broadside arsenic they assistance to halt an adjacent worse villain.
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No Strings Attached/Friends with Benefits
In 2011, romanticist drama fans were treated to not one, but 2 films astir friends who gave casual enactment a try, lone to find feelings develop. Adding a meta furniture to this 1 is the information that 1 starred Ashton Kutcher and the different Mila Kunis, for whom beingness imitated creation the pursuing year.
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Mirror Mirror/Snow White and the Huntsman
Released lone 2 months apart, these 2012 films took connected the classical Snow White communicative to varying degrees of success. The former, which featured Emily successful Paris prima Lily Collins arsenic the heroine, was thing of a flop, portion the second proved to beryllium a hit—in spite of, oregon possibly due to the fact that of, the play successful prima Kristen Stewart's idiosyncratic beingness involving manager Rupert Sanders.
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Olympus Has Fallen/White House Down
In 2013, violent attacks astatine the White House were the blistery topic, with these 2 films tasking Gerard Butler and Channing Tatum, respectively, with redeeming the day. Olympus performed good capable to garner 2 sequels, portion White House Down, released 3 months later, was a spot of a bomb.
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Yves Saint Laurent/Saint Laurent
2014 delivered not one, but 2 French biopics astir the beingness of noted manner decorator Yves Saint Laurent.
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Hercules/The Legend of Hercules
2014 besides saw dueling Hercules films, arsenic Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kellan Lutz some got the accidental to amusement disconnected their pecs arsenic the mythical Greek hero.
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Spectre/Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation
The 2015 installments of these monolithic franchises saw their leader (played by Daniel Craig and Tom Cruise, respectively) pursuit down concealed transgression organizations done Austria, Morocco and London portion their quality agencies were shutting down. Originally planned for merchandise 1 period aft Spectre, Rogue Nation was bumped up 5 months by Paramount to debar much nonstop contention betwixt the two.
