Summary Johnny Utah from Point Break could have become John Wick, transitioning from law enforcement to contract killing.
Groundhog Day and Midnight in Paris may exist in a shared universe with temporal irregularities all over the world.
Quentin Tarantino’s alternative history might put Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in the same timeline.
Big franchises with shared universe have become more common in Hollywood movies recently, but there are some less obvious links between films which could be far more interesting. The MCU is the biggest example of a shared cinematic universe, but Star Wars, Star Trek, and more franchises have been hopping on the trend with interconnected spinoffs and prequels. However, the possibility that other movies could be secretly linked is just as exciting. Even though they haven’t been confirmed, these pairs of movies are linked by fan theories and subtle Easter Eggs.
Some directors seem to set multiple movies within the same universe, and they offer sly hints that suggest their stories could be intertwined. In other cases, an actor might be the one to create a connection between two movies, especially if they play a character with a mysterious past. However, even movies which don’t share any creative talent can still share some hidden commonalities, whether this is because of their concepts or their settings. Although these movies don’t share any concrete links, the possibility that they could intersect is still very exciting.
10 Point Break & John Wick
Johnny Utah could have gone down a different path after finding Bodhi
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Even after four movies, there is very little information about John Wick’s past and his upbringing. He previously worked for the Tarasov crime family, and he may have been raised or at least trained by The Director. One John Wick theory explains that his past is linked to another of Keanu Reeves’ great action thrillers. At the end of Point Break, FBI Special Agent Johnny Utah throws his badge into the ocean, seemingly turning his back on law enforcement. It’s possible that his time with Bodhi changed his moral perspective, and he then became an assassin.
Related Keanu Reeves’ Return To This 30-Year-Old Role Would Be More Exciting Than John Wick 5 There are many speculations about Keanu Reeve’s comeback as John Wick, but he could make an even greater return to another action franchise.
9 Groundhog Day & Midnight In Paris
Time-travel movies with similar rules
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Groundhog Day and Midnight in Paris both feature accidental methods of time travel
Most time travel movies use a time machine or wormholes or some other contrivance to transport their characters into a different era. Groundhog Day and Midnight in Paris both feature accidental methods of time travel instead. Weather reporter Phil finds himself stuck in a time loop in Groundhog Day, and struggling author Gil is able to travel back in time just by accepting a ride from a stranger in Midnight in Paris. The movies could exist in a shared universe where time anomalies appear and disappear all over the Earth.
8 Ghostbusters & The Shining
Gozer provides a link to evils much stronger than Slimer
For a family-friendly movie, Ghostbusters deals with plenty of tropes that can also be seen in R-rated horror movies. As the parapsychologists rid New York of pesky ghosts, they come up against possessions and ancient demons. Slimer and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man are fun for all ages, but Gozer and Zuul prove that there is real evil in the Ghostbusters universe. This means that the team could feasibly be inserted into any great ghost movie, and they could have saved Jack at the end of The Shining if they had gone to the Overlook Hotel, and not just the Sedgewick.
7 Creature From The Black Lagoon & The Shape Of Water
Two creatures with similar features
Guillermo del Toro’s Amazonian creature in The Shape of Water bears more than a passing resemblance to the Gill-Man from Creature from the Black Lagoon. Del Toro was interested in remaking the Universal creature feature, but his ideas eventually made it to The Shape of Water instead. The story tells a slightly different story, as if the expedition to capture the creature had been a success, and it was being studied by US government scientists. In both movies, the creature shows interest in human women, but The Shape of Water is a much less threatening portrayal.
6 Drive & Nightcrawler
Dark portrayals of crime in Los Angeles
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Drive and Nightcrawler both delve into the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, and they share similar visual styles. The streets in both movies are bathed in the soft glow of the streetlights, but there is still danger lurking around every corner. Louis in Nightcrawler is an aspiring crime journalist, so he would take a keen interest in the actions of the Driver. Both men listen intently to police scanners, although one goes toward the police and the other tries to avoid them. If the men were to cross paths, it would likely be a huge scoop for Louis.
5 Coming To America & Trading Places
New York could be filled with Eddie Murphy lookalikes
Eddie Murphy plays multiple roles in Coming to America, so logically it follows that there could be many more people who look like Eddie Murphy in the same universe. Trading Places is also set in New York, and it stars Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd as people from different social classes whose lives are toyed with by wealthy stockbrokers for a friendly wager. If these movies were set in the same universe, then it would throw one more Eddie Murphy character into the mix, and Billy Ray Valentine would slot right into the social scene at the barbershop.
4 Snatch & The Gentlemen
Guy Ritchie paints a stylized portrait of British gangsters
Many of Guy Ritchie’s movies focus on similar types of characters in the London criminal underworld. They could all exist in the same universe, except for the fact that Ritchie likes to use the same actors in many movies. Snatch and The Gentlemen both paint a more stylish picture of gang life. There is still brutal violence, but the criminals are far wittier and smoother than most. The upcoming TV adaptation of The Gentlemen could provide further clues about links to Snatch, although it features a new cast of characters.
3 Inglourious Basterds & Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Tarantino’s rewriting of history could take place within the same alternative timeline
Quentin Tarantino’s alternative history movies create “what if” scenarios, but it’s unclear if they all align within the same universe. In Inglourious Basterds, a team of Allies plot an assassination against Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders in a movie theater in Paris. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is set over 20 years later, and it imagines a different outcome to the Manson Family murders in Los Angeles. Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth make a couple of allusions to the Second World War, but they don’t say how the war ended, so it’s possible that Hitler died in Paris.
2 Alien & Blade Runner
Ridley Scott’s futuristic epics hint toward a shared universe
There have been a few hints that Alien and Blade Runner share the same universe, but Ridley Scott’s movies haven’t had a meaningful crossover. Although Alien takes place over a century later than Blade Runner, the technology in the two movies shares certain similarities. This could be down to Scott’s consistent visual style, or it could be something more substantial. Alien also features Ash, an android who could have been designed by the Tyrell Corporation. Other evidence that the two movies are linked can be found in comics, novelizations and DVD extras from over the years.
Related Alien: Romulus – Release Date, Story, Cast & Everything We Know With Fede Álvarez at the helm of the new Alien movie the franchise is heading in a promising direction, but what is Alien: Romulus about?
1 Get Out & Being John Malkovich
Two different takes on a similar sci-fi concept
Both movies focus on elderly people who are trying to maintain their youth by taking over other people’s bodies.
For all its bold originality, Jordan Peele’s directorial debut shares a lot in common with Spike Jonze’s surrealist comedy drama Being John Malkovich. Both movies focus on elderly people who are trying to maintain their youth by taking over other people’s bodies. The process in Get Out seems more scientific compared to Being John Malkovich, in which people enter some sort of portal to inhabit John Malkovich’s body. This discrepancy could just mean that the process has been refined over the years. Jordan Peele supports this Get Out theory, although it wasn’t his intention to begin with.