Mockbusters. You’ve seen them around, how many can you name? Most people know the Pixar catalog without ever seeing one of their films but finding them online, or in-store can be a confusing affair. The titles, colors, and logos look strikingly similar to their big-budget counterparts with good reason – Mockbusters are a multi-million dollar industry making films that skirt copyright laws with precision, meant to piggyback off of major studio releases. So, if you work for Disney or Warner Brothers legal teams, you can probably name a lot.
Mockbusters are movies created with the “intention of exploiting the publicity of another major motion picture with a similar title or subject.”
They are low budget & direct-to-video with release dates within days of the “blockbuster” they are based on. The assumed intent is to confuse, even though the producers have maintained they are simply offering other options to consumers interested in exploring alternative titles within the genres.
These films had a taste of the digital world in the early 2010s when streaming services like Netflix stocked the titles – usually with a disclaimer about how the film is not related to the film is it mimicking.
One can assume that it was far easier to license there than their major counterparts and without content, it would be hard to survive as a streaming service. While they are few and far between these days, Netflix Studios has created a few films that may fit the Mockbusters title, like Pets United, a film with similar branding and characters to Illumination Studio’s The Secret Life of Pets. Children’s movies are the most widespread, with cheap foreign animation studios pumping out movies within months of the first trailer being released. This extreme timeline leaves little room for robust, or even logical, storytelling, and character development. However, live-action films are not immune from the Mockbuster treatment – Turkish studios from the 1970s and 1980s have gained a modern cult following from their low-budget remakes of American hits like Star Wars, Wizard of Oz, Superman, and others.
How does Mockbusters content really compare to their major counterparts?
(Right) Mockbuster knock off by Indian studio Shemaroo Entertainment, featured on Netflix in 2012.
A following or just a scam?
The apparent market for Mockbusters is vast, and according to David Rimawi, the co-owner of Asylum Studios, a well-known Mockbuster producer, none of their movies have lost money. They see annual revenue of 5 million dollars, and in 2009 they were in talks with Comedy Central to produce original content.
What this market is, specifically, is hard to pin down. Are these just confused consumers or do these studios have a measurable following? Asylum partner Paul Bales says “We believe there is no confusion in the marketplace. People understand. We know this because we have access to the statistics as terms of rentals; it’s not made up of people that made a mistake. If they did, they would ask for their money back. That doesn’t happen.”
In conclusion, the jury is still out. But with the unexpected success of their franchise Sharknado, The Asylum may be onto something.
Other notable companies and directors within the format include –
Want more information on specific films? Mental Floss has created a great list of Mockbusters with their Blockbuster counterparts.
Nevermind Museum considers Mockbuster movies as a genre an important piece of our culture. No individual film stands out, they have no motive other than profit, the storylines are confusing, and the movies themselves are forgettable at best.
Mockbusters are the perfect example of media with nothing to say. And sometimes that says more about us than media with a cultural or artistic mission.