Entertainment 14 times identical movies battled at the box office

© Provided by Digital Spy 14 times near-identical movies were released at the same time – and who won Movies are like buses. You wait ages for a cinematic retelling of the Zodiac killings, and then suddenly three come along at once.

Okay so that doesn't always happen. But surprisingly similar movies do arrive in quick succession far more often than you might expect. Maybe it's the zeitgeist. Maybe it's an anniversary. Maybe it's just plain old coincidence.

Either way, there can only be one box-office victor when almost indistinguishable movies go head to head...

1. The Matrix and eXistenZ (1999)

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The film(s): A young hero discovers that the reality he is experiencing is actually nothing but an artificial simulation.

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Which won? The Matrix

While David Cronenberg's trippy movie explored the dark and mind-bending potential of virtual reality with far more depth than The Matrix, the Wachowskis' film was a global phenomenon. Oculus Rift is still struggling to catch up.

2. Armageddon and Deep Impact (1998)

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The film(s): An asteroid threatens all human life on Earth. Only a team of plucky and suicidal heroes can save us now!

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Which won? Armageddon

While both were box office hits, Michael Bay's movie came out ahead. We think Aerosmith had something to do with that.

3. Entrapment and The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

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The film(s): Following the theft of a European masterwork, a sexy female insurance investigator gets caught up in the sexy plots of a master thief played by a James Bond actor.

Which won? Entrapment

Both were box-office hits, but Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery's cross-generational romance beat out Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan's same-age adventures.

4. Turner & Hooch and K-9 (1989)

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The film(s): An experienced police officer finds himself reluctantly paired with an adorable canine partner to solve a crime.

Which won? Turner & Hooch

Tom Hanks in the '80s? Jim Belushi didn't stand a chance.

5. Antz and A Bug's Life (1998)

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Netflix to pull all movies from Cannes film festival

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The film(s): A CGI animation zooming in on insect life, with a plucky male worker ant fighting to save a princess and the colony.

Which won? A Bug's Life

Pixar's colourful kid-friendly version, which received decent marketing, beat out Dreamworks' well-received existential angst version.

6. Spectre and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

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The film(s): An iconic special agent chases a secret criminal organisation through Austria, Morocco and London as their own agency struggles to stay afloat.

Which won? Spectre

There aren't really any losers when both films earn well over $500 million, but the James Bond franchise once again proved itself to be one of the biggest in the world. (Even then, it still lagged behind the critical and commercial mega-success of Skyfall.)

7. Liberty Stands Still and Phone Booth (2002)

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The film(s): A morally compromised professional caught up in a secret affair finds themselves trapped in the open by a deadly phone call. The person on the other end? A sniper with an axe to grind!

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Which won?Phone Booth

While Phone Booth stands as part of the failed attempt to turn excellent character actor Colin Farrell into a blockbuster leading man, it still performed better than Liberty Stands Still, which you've probably never heard of.

8. Zodiac and Curse of the Zodiac (2007)

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The film(s): A film based on the true story of the 'Zodiac Killer', a murderer who left taunting notes and strange pictograms for the police in Northern California in the '60s and '70s and was never caught.

(An honourable mention goes to 2006's The Zodiac, too.)

Which won? Zodiac

David Fincher and an all-star cast against a critically-panned, straight-to-DVD release. This battle was a non-starter.

9. Despicable Me and Megamind (2010)

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The film(s): Animation where a celebrated comedy actor plays an evil supervillian who actually turns out to be the hero, alongside his sidekick(s) called Minion(s).

Which won? Despicable Me

Gru and the little yellow guys bested big blue guy Megamind and his fish-faced sidekick Minion (voiced by David Cross), with Despicable Me spawning 2 sequels and 2 spin-off movies.

10. No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits (2011)

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The film(s): A pair of friends agree to have 'no strings attached' sex, but things get complicated when – shock! – they find themselves falling for each other.

(Fun fact: No Strings Attached's working title was actually Friends with Benefits, but it was forced to change to avoid a clash with the other, similarly-themed movie.)

Which won? Friends with Benefits

Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake scraped ahead of Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher by a mere $1.2 million.

11. Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down (2013)

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The film(s): A down-on-his-luck bodyguard has to rescue the President after the White House is attacked by terrorists.

Which won? White House Down

Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx's bigger budget outing won at the box office, but it was Olympus Has Fallen that kicked off a franchise, with London Has Fallen landing in 2016 and a third film, Angel Has Fallen, now in the works.

12. The Double and Enemy (2013)

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The film(s): A difficult arthouse film by a clever director about a man tormented by his own doppelganger.

(Enemy is as adaptation of a novel by Nobel Prize winner José Saramago called – you guessed it – The Double.)

Which won? Enemy

Denis Villeneuve's horror-thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal won out over Richard Ayoade's comedy based on a Dostoyevsky story. Unsurprisingly.

13. Hercules and The Legend of Hercules (2014)

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The film(s): A shirtless, brawny epic re-telling of the mythical Greek hero stories.

Which won? Hercules

The Rock vs Kellan Lutz isn't really a fair fight, so it was no surprise which of the two movies made the more Olympian box office takings. Dwayne Johnson and Brett Ratner's version was a lot more fun, too.

14. Yves Saint Laurent and Saint Laurent (2014)

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The film(s): A biopic of influential French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

Which won? Yves Saint Laurent

Though many felt Saint Laurent, the unofficial biopic (Yves Saint Laurent was supported by YSL's partner Pierre Berge) was a better movie, the sanctioned version was a greater financial success.

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