Lockout didn’t just take inspiration from Escape From New York – it practically mirrored it. Both follow a hardened criminal sent into a high-security future prison to rescue a presidential family member, only swapping the President for his daughter. John Carpenter noticed the uncanny resemblance and took the producers to court, and won. | © EuropaCorp
Both The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later open with the same haunting image: a man waking from a coma to a world gone to hell. The parallel was so striking that fans quickly accused the series of lifting the film’s setup. Creator Robert Kirkman later admitted the similarity but claimed it was a coincidence, while Danny Boyle shrugged it off, saying they both drew from the same old-school sci-fi roots. | © AMC Studios
The Hunger Games drew instant comparisons to Japan’s brutal Battle Royale. Both center on a dystopian government forcing kids to fight to the death, a premise too close for some to ignore. Suzanne Collins insists she hadn’t seen Battle Royale before writing her novel, but even Quentin Tarantino called it a straight-up ripoff. | © Lionsgate Films
The moment R.I.P.D. hit screens, audiences couldn’t miss the Men in Black deja vu. It followed another secret agency cleaning up supernatural chaos, complete with a rookie agent and his grumpy veteran partner. Even the film’s own producer admitted the resemblance, though he insisted it was just one of many “influences.” | © Universal Studios
From draws heavy comparisons to Lost for its setup and tone. A group of strangers finds themselves trapped in a strange town surrounded by nightmarish creatures, all while searching for answers that never seem to come. The eerie mystery, shifting alliances, and slow-burn pacing feel straight out of Lost’s playbook. | © MGM
Nosferatu basically copied Dracula and tried to get away with it. The filmmakers changed a few names and details, but the story was almost exactly the same. Stoker’s family sued and won, and while the court ordered every copy destroyed, one survived – turning into a horror classic. | © Focus Features
After Jaws became a hit, producer Roger Corman decided to make his own version, just with killer fish instead of a shark. The result was Piranha, a low-budget copy that even winked at Jaws in its ads. Universal almost sued, but Steven Spielberg stopped it after watching and actually enjoying the movie. | © Dimension Films
Hollywood loves a good idea – sometimes a little too much. Over the years, plenty of movies and shows have borrowed, mirrored, or outright copied the success of others. Here are seven that pushed “inspired by” a bit too far.
