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Creating something truly unique is a challenge, and in some cases, being the first to do something doesn't matter. Several beloved books and films have striking similarities to their earlier, less successful counterparts.
10. Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is arguably the most adored fictional detective ever, but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle drew inspiration from a remarkably similar character. C. Auguste Dupin, a brilliant French detective created by Edgar Allan Poe, also had a habit of working alongside the police on investigations. Dupin’s investigative style mirrors Holmes’s methods closely, and fans of Holmes would recognize the structure of Dupin’s stories, all narrated by an anonymous sidekick much like Watson.
Poe is often credited with creating the detective mystery genre through his character Dupin, which made Doyle’s decision to draw from these tales understandable. However, Doyle took the concept further. He adapted Poe’s most well-known Dupin story, 'The Purloined Letter,' no less than three times. In Poe's original, Dupin is tasked with recovering a stolen letter used for blackmail against a royal woman. Doyle’s stories, 'The Adventure of the Naval Treaty,' 'A Scandal in Bohemia,' and 'The Second Stain,' follow a similar plotline. Dupin is even referenced by name in 'A Study in Scarlet,' the first Sherlock Holmes novel.
9. The Lord Of The Rings
Though Tolkien denied any influence, it’s hard to overlook the striking resemblances between his epic, 'The Lord of the Rings,' and the obscure German play 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' ('The Ring Cycle'), by Richard Wagner. Premiering in 1869, Wagner’s play centers on Norse and Germanic mythology. In contrast, Tolkien’s 'The Lord of the Rings' is set in his own rich Middle-earth mythology. Despite the differences in setting, the similarities are remarkable.
Tolkien famously claimed, 'Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases,' but he must have recognized the truth of the matter. Both rings grant the wielder immense power and the ability to become invisible, leading to madness, and both are claimed after the original owners are defeated. While the plots diverge, both stories feature family members killing one another over the ring, the reforging of a significant broken sword, and an immortal giving up their immortality.
8. The Lion King
Many consider 'The Lion King' to be Disney's crowning achievement, but it has often been criticized for borrowing heavily from other works. For years, it’s been viewed as a contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s 'Hamlet,' with notable plot parallels that are hard to ignore.
An even more contentious claim is that the creators of 'The Lion King' lifted ideas from the Japanese manga and anime 'Kimba the White Lion' by Osamu Tezuka. While the settings and artistic choices are different, with distinct African and Japanese influences, the two works share surprising similarities. Both feature ghostly lion fathers, hyena minions, and dramatic moments where all the animals in the savannah celebrate the birth of a lion cub.
Before 'Hamlet,' 'Kimba,' or 'The Lion King,' there was already a well-known lion king legend in West Africa. Sundiata, the founder of the powerful Mali Empire, was exiled before ultimately returning to reclaim his throne, embodying the story of the 'Lion King.'
8. A Fistful Of Dollars
The Man With No Name remains one of cinema's most unforgettable characters. Known by different names—Joe, Manco, and Blondie—he stars in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy, a collection of loosely connected spaghetti westerns that helped transform Clint Eastwood from a relatively unknown actor to a global icon.
The final film in the trilogy, 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,' is widely regarded as a masterpiece, but it owes its existence to the first installment, 1964's 'A Fistful of Dollars.' This film was essentially a direct adaptation of the Japanese samurai classic 'Yojimbo,' which debuted three years earlier. 'A Fistful of Dollars' is nearly a shot-for-shot remake of the original, with similar camera angles and nearly identical storylines. The plagiarism was so blatant that Toho, the production company behind 'Yojimbo,' successfully sued Leone for copyright infringement.
6. The Shawshank Redemption
One of the standout stories in Stephen King's extensive portfolio is 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,' which was later shortened to 'The Shawshank Redemption' for its highly praised film adaptation. Originally published in King's anthology 'Different Seasons,' this novella deviates from his usual supernatural horror style, possibly because it isn't as representative of his typical storytelling approach.
'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption' shares striking similarities with Leo Tolstoy’s short story 'God Sees the Truth But Waits.' In Tolstoy's narrative, a man named Aksionov is wrongfully accused of murder and imprisoned for 26 years. During his incarceration, he befriends Makar Semyonich, another prisoner who is secretly digging a tunnel. It is later revealed that Semyonich is the true murderer, and when Aksionov refuses to betray him, Semyonich ultimately admits to the crime. Aksionov dies before anyone can free him.
5. Eragon
'Eragon' is the inaugural novel in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle series. Many readers have pointed out that the story contains several plot elements similar to those in the original 'Star Wars' film, with a touch of 'Lord of the Rings' thrown in for good measure.
Eragon, a young farm boy, lives peacefully with his uncle, far removed from the ongoing battle between a mighty empire and a group of rebels. One day, Eragon stumbles upon a dragon’s egg, sent to his village by a princess. This discovery results in his uncle's death and the destruction of his home. Eragon then flees with Brom, an elderly 'dragon rider,' who begins to train him, unaware that Eragon himself shares the same powerful abilities. Together with his new dragon, Saphira, Eragon embarks on a journey to rescue the rebel princess, Arya, which costs Brom his life. Eragon, Arya, Saphira, and a rogue named Murtagh work together to defend a rebel base from an imperial assault. A few changes in events and names, and this is essentially the story of 'A New Hope.'
4. Avatar
Much like how Eragon mirrors A New Hope, swapping a few names and altering the sequence of events can transform James Cameron’s Avatar into Disney’s Pocahontas. In Avatar, Jake Sully enters the world of Pandora to take part in a large-scale mining operation for unobtainium, much like the colonists in Pocahontas sought gold. Sully soon meets Neytiri, the daughter of a chief who is set to marry a warrior she does not love. As she teaches Jake the importance of nature and the ways of her people, their bond deepens. When Jake is condemned to death, his execution is halted by a confrontation between the humans and the indigenous Na'vi people. In the end, they find common ground and peace is made.
Cameron has also faced accusations of plagiarizing FernGully: The Last Rainforest and Dances With Wolves. In fact, Cameron himself has acknowledged being inspired by the latter, as well as a film titled At Play in the Fields of the Lord.
3. Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel has never quite achieved the fame of other superheroes on the big screen, but the character still enjoys a loyal fan base. His creation is a direct imitation of Superman, with Roscoe Fawcett, the head of Fawcett Comics, reportedly saying, 'I want a Superman, only make his secret identity a young boy, not a man.'
The remarkable physical similarities and shared superpowers between the two characters prompted DC Comics to file a lawsuit against Fawcett for copyright infringement in 1950. While DC might not have succeeded today given the crowded superhero landscape, the parallels were undeniable at the time. The court ruled that Fawcett could no longer use the Captain Marvel character. However, in 1972, DC secured a license for the character, but due to Marvel Comics holding the trademark on the name, DC rebranded him as Shazam.
2. Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, the first book in a trilogy, became an instant hit in 2008 and was later adapted into a major film franchise. However, some readers observed significant similarities between The Hunger Games and a 1999 novel by Koushun Takami titled Battle Royale. Both novels take place in dystopian futures where authoritarian governments force children and teenagers, selected by lottery, to fight each other to the death in a jungle-like setting. Numerous plot elements, including romantic relationships that develop during the competition and persist to the end, are strikingly similar.
The film adaptation of Battle Royale, released in 2000, deviates from the book in several key ways, most notably by turning the secretive nature of the program in the novel into a public spectacle in the film. These differences, which also appear in The Hunger Games, have led to accusations that Collins borrowed elements from both works.
1. Star Wars
George Lucas has openly acknowledged that the striking similarities between the Star Wars universe and Akira Kurosawa's 1958 Japanese film, The Hidden Fortress, set in feudal Japan, are not mere coincidence. While the storylines only share faint resemblances, a considerable amount of cinematographic influence from Kurosawa's film made its way into Star Wars, such as the iconic screen-wiping technique used during scene transitions. In fact, George Lucas even considered Toshiro Mifune, the star of The Hidden Fortress, for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
One of the most apparent parallels between the two films is the portrayal of seemingly insignificant characters who ultimately play a crucial role in the story. In The Hidden Fortress, two peasants accompany a princess and a general during their perilous journey through a war-torn landscape. These 'peasants' are mirrored in the Star Wars films as the droids R2-D2 and C3P0, who become pivotal to the unfolding plot.
