The Bizarre World (and Examples) of Mockbusters

Imagine, if you will, seeing a DVD in the dollar bin called Almighty Thor. You might think it's a steal, getting a Marvel movie for just a dollar. And that was the point, somewhat. This movie came out the same year as the first Marvel Thor movie, but Marvel had nothing to do with it. Everyone knows when a new Marvel superhero movie is coming out, so The Asylum rushed to get in the game by spending $200,000 on Almighty Thor, starring Cody Deal, that premiered in the US only one day after Marvel's Thor. The low budget guaranteed it would make a profit, mainly from those who confused it with the MCU movie.  

This is an example of a mockbuster, a film designed to profit from another movie's publicity. Some are better than others, although they are all cheap. Some pass themselves off as parodies. Get a taste of what these movies are like in eight trailers (if you haven't already been fooled into watching some) at Cracked, where you'll find Avengers Grimm, Sinister Squad, Captain Battle: Legacy War, and others, including the most ridiculous of all, The Amazing Bulk


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The Amazing Bulk looked to me like an awful attempt at humor. Bet it all sounded funny in someone's head but with the Ed Wood levels of self-delusion and zero budget, fell completely flat on screen. Ala Kung Pow! (2002).
A few of them, like Avengers Grimm (2015) and Thor: End of Days (2020) had good enough production values that I wouldn't be disappointed if I picked up the DVDs from a dollar store. But I'm sure they were banking on tricking people into spending quite a bit more.
It's difficult to complain when big studios are relying on public domain characters/stories, so everyone else is free to do the same.
And even mainstream studio make Twin Films all the time... Deep Impact (1998) vs Armageddon (1998), Red Planet (2000) vs Mission to Mars (2000) vs. Ghosts of Mars (2001) [all 3 are terrible], The Prestige (2006) vs The Illusionist (2006), etc.
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By leading off with "The Amazing Bulk", the Cracked piece really makes the rest of them look Oscar caliber. It truly looks like the work of a high school AV club. If "Almighty Thor" only cost $200,000, I could probably fund "The Bulk" by pawning my silverware.
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