For over a century, it has been one of the world's most burning questions: If Abraham Lincoln fought his own clone, who would win?
Okay, so maybe we're overstating the importance of the question, but that isn't going to stop Hollywood from answering it. And next year's showdown between "Lincoln" and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" is just one example of the many projects in the movie pipeline that are fighting with their own clones. Everyone from Snow White to Osama Bin Laden is racing to get to the theater before their evil twin gets there first.
So with that in mind, we thought we'd take a look at some of the films that may soon have you seeing double. Because in Hollywood, if an idea is good enough to film, it's good enough to copy.
'Untitled Snow White Project' vs. 'Snow White and the Huntsman'
'Untitled Snow White Project'
Starring: Julia Roberts and Lily Collins
Director: Tarsem Singh
Source Material: The Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Snow White"
Planned Release Date: March 2012
'Snow White and the Huntsman'
Starring: Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth
Director: Rupert Sanders
Source Material: The Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Snow White"
Planned Release Date: June 2012
Movie Fight: In the battle between the two "Snow White" projects, which will end up finding its Prince Charming? Well, Tarsem Singh moved his untitled project starring Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen and Lily Collins as Snow White up to March in order to get into theaters first. Still, the smart money has to be on "Snow White and the Huntsman," which features Kristen Stewart as Snow and "Thor" star Chris Hemsworth as the Hunstman who saves her life. Life lesson number one: Never bet against the power of Twi-Hards.
'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' vs. 'Lincoln'
'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'
Starring: Benjamin Walker and Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Source Material: "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith
Planned Release Date: June 22, 2012
'Lincoln'
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Director: Steven Spielberg
Source Material: "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Planned Release Date: December 2012
Movie Fight: We've got a pretty strong feeling that nobody will really be confusing these two projects. After all, one of them portrays our 16th president as a vampire-killing agent of the supernatural, while the other one... doesn't. This may be one of the few instances where the wildly different takes on the same basic idea end up helping rather than hurting, as pro-Lincoln hype of any kind can only help both films. We're just hoping Abe keeps a silver crucifix under that top hat.
'Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story' vs. 'Lovelace'
Kensington
'Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story'
Starring: Malin Akerman and Matt Dillon
Director: Matthew Wilder
Source Material: "Ordeal: The Truth Behind Deep Throat" by Linda Lovelace
Planned Release Date: 2012
'Lovelace'
Starring: Kate Hudson (rumored)
Directors: Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
Source Material: "The Complete Linda Lovelace" by Eric Danville
Planned Release Date: 2012
Movie Fight: Matthew Wilder's take on the life and struggles of "Deep Throat" star Linda Lovelace seemed to be derailed earlier this year when the director became the one millionth person in Hollywood forced to give up on Lindsay Lohan. Luckily, he snapped up Malin Akerman as a replacement, meaning "Inferno" may get the jump on "Lovelace," which is still trying to lock down its cast.
'Greetings From Tim Buckley' vs. 'Untitled Jeff Buckley Project'
'Greetings From Tim Buckley'
Starring: Penn Badgley
Director: Dan Algrant
Source Material: The Tim Buckley Estate
Planned Release Date: 2012
'Untitled Jeff Buckley Project'
Starring: Unknown
Director: Jake Scott
Source Material: "Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley" by David Browne
Planned Release Date: 2013
Movie Fight: "Gossip Girl" star Penn Badgley recently landed the role of a lifetime -- he's set to play iconic and tragic singer Jeff Buckley in a story that will highlight Buckley's struggles to connect to the music of his musician father, Tim Buckley, who also died young. However, it's not just the role of Badgley's lifetime, because someone else will also be playing Buckley in an adaptation of the biography "Dream Brother" ("Twilight" heartthrob Robert Pattinson has even reportedly expressed interest in the role). Considering the competing films are each backed by a different estate (one by Tim's and one by Jeff's), we can safely say we don't want to be around that household for Thanksgiving.
'Kill Bin Laden' vs. 'SEAL Team Six'
'Kill Bin Laden'
Starring: Joel Edgerton
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Source Material: "Kill Bin Laden" by Mark Boal
Planned Release Date: 2012
'SEAL Team Six'
Starring: Unknown
Director: Unknown
Source Material: "SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper" by Howard E. Wasdin
Planned Release Date: 2014
Movie Fight: Say this for Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow: She has a hell of a sense of timing. As it happens, Bigelow and "Hurt Locker" writer Mark Boal were already well into pre-production on an adaptation of his book "Kill Bin Laden" when the SEAL Team Six, you know, killed Bin Laden. Still, while they will almost certainly get their version out first, Hollywood is also stoked to adapt the memoir "SEAL Team Six," which just happened to be published a couple short weeks after Bin Laden's death. Score another win for SEAL Team Six.
'Diana: Closely Guarded Secret' vs. Untitled Princess Diana Biopic
'Diana: Closely Guarded Secret'
Starring: Charlize Theron
Director: Stephen Evans
Source Material: "Diana: Closely Guarded Secret" by Ken Wharfe
Planned Release Date: 2013
Untitled Princess Diana Biopic
Starring: Keira Knightley and Helen Mirren (rumored)
Director: Unknown
Source Material: the life of Princess Diana
Planned Release Date: 2013
Movie Fight: The biggest hurdle preventing Charlize Theron's portrayal of the late Princess Diana may not be the competing Pathé project rumored to star Keira Knightley as Di and Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth, but rather Theron's own incredibly busy schedule. Given the recent media blitz surrounding the royal wedding of Diana's eldest son, Prince William, it's clear there's still plenty of audience interest. We're especially curious to see how the paparazzi end up covering the filming of a Princess Diana movie. Meta much?
'Oz: The Great and Powerful' vs. 'Wicked'
'Oz: The Great and Powerful'
Starring: James Franco, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz
Director: Sam Raimi
Source Material: Frank L. Baum's "Wizard of Oz" series
Planned Release Date: March 8, 2013
'Wicked'
Starring: Unknown
Director: Unknown
Source Material: "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire
Planned Release Date: 2014
Movie Fight: After much ballyhoo over the possibility of landing either Johnny Depp or Robert Downey Jr., "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi finally settled on James Franco to play the wonderful wizard in an "Oz" prequel entitled "Oz: The Great and Powerful." While that movie chugs along at Disney, though, a high-profile adaptation of the hit Broadway musical "Wicked" is also underway, though no stars have yet been signed. One way or another, though, there will be flying monkeys, and that's all that we care about.
'Malificent' vs. 'Sleeping Beauty'
'Malificent'
Starring: Angelina Jolie
Director: David O. Russell
Source Material: The classic fairy tale
Planned Release Date: 2014
'Sleeping Beauty'
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld
Director: Unknown
Source Material: The classic fairy tale
Planned Release Date: 2014
Movie Fight: Disney is synonymous with "Sleeping Beauty," thanks to its classic 1959 animated version of the fairy tale; so you would think that the studio's revisionist take on the story, featuring Angelina Jolie as the villainous Malificent, would have the upper hand. But considering "Malificent" focuses on the dark side, it may not really be in competition with the more traditional "Sleeping Beauty," which is set to feature "True Grit" phenom Hailee Steinfeld as a girl fighting her way through a dangerous dreamscape to escape the prison of endless slumber. We can't wait to see both.
'Don Quixote' vs. 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'
'Don Quixote'
Starring: Unknown
Director: Joel Silver (producer)
Source Material: "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes
Planned Release Date: 2013
'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'
Starring: Ewan McGregor and Robert Duvall
Director: Terry Gilliam
Source Material: "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes
Planned Release Date: The Twelfth of Never
Movie Fight: One the one hand, we have a film that's barely in the scripting process, having just been given the fast track by Warner Bros.; and on the other hand, we have a film that one of the most famous directors in the world has been working on for over a decade. So why do we think the new project will make it to theaters first? Well, you could make an entire movie over the multiple failures and breakdowns that have plagued Gilliam's version of "Don Quixote" -- in fact, filmmakers Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe did just that with the acclaimed documentary "Lost in La Mancha." We're impressed Gilliam's still trying, but we wouldn't bet the farm on ever seeing his vision in theaters. Talk about tilting at windmills.
