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10 Famous Films You Didn't Know Were Based On Something Else

There’s a long-standing theory that all fictional stories are based on just seven different plot types. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that some films often feel eerily reminiscent of another, or bear a striking resemblance to a classic book, but sometimes those similarities add up to something a bit more blatant.

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Homage or rip off? We’ll let you decide.

A Bug’s Life

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Inspired by: Seven Samurai

Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Seven Samurai’ most famously inspired classic Western ‘The Magnificent Seven’ although the feted Japanese director wasn’t a fan of the remake starring Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen, calling it “a disappointment”.

However, have you ever noticed how closely Pixar’s A Bug’s Life also closely follows the story of Kurosawa’s 1954 masterpiece? Just switch the village for an anthill, the marauders for grasshoppers, and the samurai for the circus bugs, and you’ve got a teeny tiny animated remake of one of Kurasawa’s most famous films.

The naff 1980 sci-fi ‘Battle Beyond The Stars’ is also a loose remake of ‘Seven Samurai’ with producer Roger Corman shamelessly pitching it as “Magnificent Seven in outer space.”

Barb Wire

Inspired by: Casablanca

It’s funny to think ‘Barb Wire’ was a gritty and well-respected comic book before it was adapted into the schlocky 1996 Pamela Anderson vehicle that saw the ‘Baywatch’ star winning a Golden Raspberry for ‘Worst New Star’.

The comic and the film were actually inspired by the much-loved 1942 drama ‘Casablanca’, moving the action from the backdrop of World War 2 to the post-apocalyptic “Second American Civil War”, and gender switching the main roles.

Instead of bar-owner Rick, we have Barb. Rick never got his norks out in ‘Casablanca’ though thankfully.

A Fistful of Dollars

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Inspired by: Yojimbo

Sergio Leone’s 1964 Spaghetti Western was intended to be a straight remake of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai bodyguard tale ‘Yojimbo’, but the Japanese auteur refused him the rights.

Leone wasn’t deterred and made the film anyway, but a lengthy legal battle ensured the film’s release was delayed by 3 years. The matter was eventually settled out of court with Leone agreeing to pay Kurosawa 15% of the global box office for ‘Fistful of Dollars’.

The Lion King

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Inspired by: Hamlet

Disney’s Africa-set animation was touted as the studio’s first animated film based on an original idea, but the filmmakers behind it credited William Shakespeare’s Danish play - and the biblical tales of Joseph and Moses - as direct inspirations.

If your Shakespeare is rusty, here’s a little reminder: Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius who has seized the Danish throne by murdering his brother – and the young Prince’s father - King Hamlet. Sound familiar?

Interestingly, ‘The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride’ is loosely based on ‘Romeo and Juliet’, while ‘The Lion King 1 ½’ is heavily influenced by Tom Stoppard’s quasi-‘Hamlet’ spin-off ‘Rosencratz and Guildenstern are Dead’.

Forbidden Planet

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Inspired by: The Tempest

MGM’s sci-fi ‘Forbidden Planet’ transplanted Shakespeare tragicomedy from an island to a planet in space swapping Prospero and Miranda with Professor Morbius and Altaira.

Robbie the Robot is a cypher for Ariel and instead of Sycorax the witch we have the Krell race. The film, which features ‘Naked Gun’ star Leslie Nielsen in an early role, is considered a seminal work of science fiction and was preserved by America’s National Film Registry in 2013.

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

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Inspired by: The Hidden Fortress

George Lucas has been very open about basing the original ‘Star Wars’ on classic storytelling tropes and ideas, but the most blatant inspiration is Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 film ‘Hidden Fortress’.

It’s an epic tale as seen through the eyes of two of its lowliest status characters (in ‘Fortress’ it’s a pair of bickering peasants, in ‘Star Wars’ it’s R2-D2 and C3PO) and it sees an elderly warrior escorting a Princess across enemy lines.

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The film’s influence would continue to seep into Lucas’ work with several themes - including princesses with handmaiden doubles - making their way in ‘Phantom Menace’ years later.

Ten Things I Hate About You

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Inspired by: The Taming of the Shrew

This 1999 teen rom com starring Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles is a modernised retelling of Shakespeare’s classic comedy ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. It’s set in Padua high school, a nod to the location of the source material, and tells the tale of an apparently undateable young girl, and the efforts of her parents to find a suitor.

And you just thought it was a high school movie.

Easy A

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Inspired by: The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s epic work of romantic fiction set in 17th century puritanical Boston may seem like an unlikely source to cull a plot for a high school movie from, but that’s exactly what Will Gluck did for his second film ‘Easy A’.

Like the source, ‘Easy A’ (which stars Emma Stone in a breakout role) features a lead character publicly shamed for adultery by being forced to wear a red A stitched to her clothes.

Cruel Intentions

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Inspired by: Dangerous Liaisons

Dismiss 1999’s psychosexual melodrama ‘Cruel Intentions’ at your peril as it has quite lofty origins. The Sarah Michelle Gellar-starring film is actually an adaptation of an 18th-century French novel ‘Les Liaisons dangereuses’ by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, which also inspired Stephen Frear’s 1988 drama ‘Dangerous Liaisons’.

The character names stayed virtually the same, but while Frears’ lavish adaptation was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, ‘Cruel Intentions’ endured two straight-to-DVD sequels, which is probably not what Laclos had in mind.

Clueless

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Inspired by: Emma

We’re confident that when Jane Austen wrote her 1815 novel ‘Emma’ she didn’t picture it like ‘Clueless’.

Amy Heckerling’s 1995 teen comedy starring Alicia Silverstone and Brittany Murphy changed the names and the setting, but the spirit of Austen’s book remains the same. Georgian-Regency England is a very different place to Beverly Hills, but Emma – renamed Cher in ‘Clueless’ – is still spoiled, self-satisfied, and blind to the dangers of meddling in other people’s affairs.

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Image credits: Pixar/Toho Company/MGM/Disney/Columbia Tristar/20th Century Fox/Sony Pictures/Warner Bros./Paramount/Miramax/Universal