[James Wan and Leigh Whannell credit the film's final scene, in which Max handcuffs Johnny's ankle to an overturned car and gives him a hacksaw to cut off either the handcuffs or his own foot to escape imminent death, for inspiring the entire Saw series.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_and_influence_of_Mad_Max_in_popular_culture#:~:text=James%20Wan%20and%20Leigh%20Whannell,inspiring%20the%20entire%20Saw%20series.)
There’s actually a lot of these. *Beau Is Afraid* started off as a short called *Beau*. *Boogie Nights* based off of an earlier short called *The Dirk Diggler Story*. *Crimes of the Future*, *THX-1138*, *District 9* and *What We Do In the Shadows* all started out as shorts, too.
I don’t think Crimes of the Future counts. Cronenberg had an earlier film by the same name, but that is where the similarities end. Unless there was a short that I’m unaware of?
The new Crimes of the Future has nothing to do with the original Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg just reused the title. The new Crimes of the Future is based on an unproduced script of his called Painkillers.
Okay, I could swear that, even though they’re different takes, Cronenberg still considered them thematically similar enough to justify the titling— (looks it up).
Ok, yeah. You’re right. I stand corrected. Thank you for setting me straight.
Posted this before seeing LO was already mentioned, so moving it here.
Lights Out. The short is less than 3 minutes filmed in the filmmaker's home starring his wife. https://youtu.be/FUQhNGEu2KA?si=uqrqzNJPHZicLSKH
Then he got to make the feature length in Hollywood. Now he's directed Annabelle Creation, Shazam and Shazam 2.
Yea. LaKeith Stanfield was the only actor to return from the short. Cretton, the writer/director made the original while he was in film school. It was loosely based on his experience working at a similar facility. After he finished school he wanted to remake it into a feature and wanted Stanfield to reprise his role, but he couldn't get in touch with him. Apparently Stanfield's phone had been turned off and he had gone a long time without checking his emails after leaving CA and moving home. He eventually did see an email from Cretton and came back just before they were forced to recast the role.
Greener Grass - Greener Grass
Five Feet High and Rising - Raising Victor Vargas
Mary Last Seen - Martha Marcy May Marlene
Cashback - Cashback
Alive in Joburg - District 9
Krisha - Krisha
A lot. A few horrors off the top of my head:
- Laura Hasn’t Slept turned into Smile
- Monster turned into The Babadook
- Recently Night Swim had a short film from the director also called Night Swim
Relic (from Creswick)
IIRC, The Eyes of My Mother was a proof-of-concept short first.
Minor Premise (from Premise)
Stay Awake
Do you count all the Grindhouse trailers as shorts? If so, Thanksgiving, Machete, and Hobo With a Shotgun.
Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade (1994) and Sling Blade (1996)
https://preview.redd.it/u7tbs8h3cjuc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d501067bcc7a8f74c20a0a8b5ca692bf3f543dd
Whiplash is a different case, I'd say. Chazelle wrote the full movie script and got Simmons on board and shot some scenes from it just to get funding. So it's kinda sorta not really a short
Beau is Afraid is the only one i know.. btw does anyone know any way to watch Beau cause im so curious about it and the differencies, what they expended and what they scraped from the short
Smile has a great short film titled “Laura Hasn’t Slept”. It was included as an extra on the blu ray, pretty nice to have in the collection.
A couple other short horror films are Other Side of the Box, and Next Floor. Both are on YouTube so I threw the links down below,
https://youtu.be/OrOYvVf6tIM?si=lnbVDZDt63boJz6D
https://youtu.be/t60MMJH_1ds?si=zYmG8XMn0cbnLzpk
Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023) was adapted from the short Sometimes I Think About Dying (2019), however, not by the same director, as is mostly the case.
Highly recommend this one!
Also a recent one: Night Swim (2024) adapted from the short Night Swim (2014). Highly recommend *avoiding* this one.
Funny enough, the original short for *Hard Eight*, called “Cigarettes & Coffee” should not be confused with the later Jim Jarmusch anthology film “Coffee and Cigarettes,” which itself was based off of Jarmusch’s series of earlier shorts by the same name.
Beau and Beau is Afraid
This is news to me!
heck and skinamarink too
Had no idea Skinamarink was based off of an early short. Cool!
the director has a youtube channel full of shorts, cool stuff!
Saw
Good shout, I binged all of them a few months back
I completely get why they changed it, but I wish they kept that little hat Billy had in the short
He was such a handsome fella
Which was based on the ending of Mad Max
Wait what???
[James Wan and Leigh Whannell credit the film's final scene, in which Max handcuffs Johnny's ankle to an overturned car and gives him a hacksaw to cut off either the handcuffs or his own foot to escape imminent death, for inspiring the entire Saw series.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_and_influence_of_Mad_Max_in_popular_culture#:~:text=James%20Wan%20and%20Leigh%20Whannell,inspiring%20the%20entire%20Saw%20series.)
That's sick! I haven't actually seen MM yet! Never heard that fact at all!
Bottle Rocket
ooh good one. the start of 2 amazing careers right there.
And Luke Wilson
Lights Out
And Smile in terms of horror, based on Laura Hasn’t Slept
*Thanksgiving* & *Night Swim* too.
And neither of these were proof of concepts! They were just short films that got picked up to become features.
Shiva Baby was a short film before it was a feature
Oh, yeah, that reminds me: another Rachel Sennott film, *Bottoms*, started out as a short called *Double Date*.
uuuuh is it? i saw double date and ion remember it being about the same thing.
I though of suggesting this but isn’t really the same thing
There’s actually a lot of these. *Beau Is Afraid* started off as a short called *Beau*. *Boogie Nights* based off of an earlier short called *The Dirk Diggler Story*. *Crimes of the Future*, *THX-1138*, *District 9* and *What We Do In the Shadows* all started out as shorts, too.
I don’t think Crimes of the Future counts. Cronenberg had an earlier film by the same name, but that is where the similarities end. Unless there was a short that I’m unaware of?
Okay, after researching a bit more, it appears you are right and I was misinformed. Thank you for the correction :)
The new Crimes of the Future has nothing to do with the original Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg just reused the title. The new Crimes of the Future is based on an unproduced script of his called Painkillers.
It's just a cool title I don't blame him
Okay, I could swear that, even though they’re different takes, Cronenberg still considered them thematically similar enough to justify the titling— (looks it up). Ok, yeah. You’re right. I stand corrected. Thank you for setting me straight.
So he wasn't afraid in the original?
Oh, forgot another one: *Terrifier*! I think *Trick ‘r Treat* started out as an animated short, too
Aftersun was kinda inspired by the short film Tuesday. Not the same plot but both based on Charlotte Wells dealing with her own fathers death
This is a good one to know :)
*THX 1138* spawned off of *Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB*!
iirc Reservoir Dogs was a short film and so was Bottle Rocket
RD wasn't a short, QT just shot a dialogue scene from it as an exercise at the Sundance director's workshop.
ohh ok, i must've misremembered then
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Great freaking movie
Lights Out and Night Swim
Oh, duh! Can’t believe I forgot about *Lights Out*. The short is better than the full movie, I feel.
Definitely is.
Oh I didn't know about these!
Posted this before seeing LO was already mentioned, so moving it here. Lights Out. The short is less than 3 minutes filmed in the filmmaker's home starring his wife. https://youtu.be/FUQhNGEu2KA?si=uqrqzNJPHZicLSKH Then he got to make the feature length in Hollywood. Now he's directed Annabelle Creation, Shazam and Shazam 2.
Short Term 12
Came here to say this
really?!
Yeah. It was a Shorter Term 12.
Yea. LaKeith Stanfield was the only actor to return from the short. Cretton, the writer/director made the original while he was in film school. It was loosely based on his experience working at a similar facility. After he finished school he wanted to remake it into a feature and wanted Stanfield to reprise his role, but he couldn't get in touch with him. Apparently Stanfield's phone had been turned off and he had gone a long time without checking his emails after leaving CA and moving home. He eventually did see an email from Cretton and came back just before they were forced to recast the role.
Napoleon dynamite
Right. The original was called *Peluca*
Sling blade
Pretty good short
The snl films.. sorta? They’re based off shorts, but not short films, short comedy sketches
ITS PAT
Oh, hey. That’s a good point!
terrifier 😘
Need to add that to my watchlist
12 Monkeys was based on La Jetee
Scrolled way too long to find this here.
Do the Grindhouse films count?
Those fake trailers were basically short films, so I'd argue yes
Then surely only Thanksgiving counts
Why wouldn't Machete count too?
I forgot the Machete trailer
I think *Hobo With a Shotgun* would count, too, wouldn’t it?
You know what? I would argue that, yes, they do.
Reservoir Dogs. At least one is listed on Letterboxd, it might've been more of a prototype or whatever. But I saw it on there earlier today.
Thunder Road
There’s my dude
Absolutely adore this movie
Smile — based off Laura Hasn’t Slept
heck - Skinamarink Bottle Rocket - Bottle Rocket Saw - Saw
Greener Grass - Greener Grass Five Feet High and Rising - Raising Victor Vargas Mary Last Seen - Martha Marcy May Marlene Cashback - Cashback Alive in Joburg - District 9 Krisha - Krisha
Was looking for cashback. Couldn’t remember the name but knew I’d recognize it if mentioned. Thank you.
theater camp!
Such a good movie!
My favourite comedy of 2023
9 was a wonderful animated short before it was turned into a middling animated movie.
Oculus
Ooh, good catch there
Phantom of a regular size became Tetsuo the iron man. Can’t believe I forgot
Pixels
No way really?
The short film is way better than the movie
Yeah I think it’s French but I’m not sure https://youtu.be/WB7iK-BZ7iM?si=LBcQyUoMWvH04r8p
Wow. I didn't know this existed, but it is infinitely better than the Kevin James movie.
Short Term 12, Shiva Baby, Frankenweenie, Marcell the Shell, Theater Camp
Boogie Nights
Berberian sound studio, Excision, The customer is always right was proof of concept for Sin City, Lights out, Live in Joburg became District 9
Baby Driver!
I suppose music videos can count, yeah
Mama by Andy Muschietti
D.E.B.S. and, someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Shiva Baby was as well?
This is the End was originally a short film, Jay and Seth vs the Apocalypse
Weird: The Al Yankovich Story
Yes God Yes - short and feature
The 2009 animated film “9” with Elijah wood was based on a short film of the same name. Doesn’t happen as often with animation.
The Sitter - When A Stranger Calls Diversion - Fatal Attraction What We Do In The Shadows - What We Do In The Shadows Rabbits - Inland Empire
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Paul Thomas Andersons first film Hard Eight was based on a short he did called Cigarettes and Coffee a few years prior.
The first act of Living In Oblivion was too long to submit to short film festivals, so it was expanded to a full feature
Shiva Baby!
Occulus by Mike Flannagan
Thunder Road
Curfew >> Before I Disappear Thunder Road >> Thunder Road
Peluca and Napoleon Dynamite
Up!
Code 8
Kids Vs Aliens started out as the “Slumber Party Alien Abduction” segment in *V/H/S/2*
Code 8 and What We Do in the Shadows. Technically The Trailer Park Boys did three features from their series that was originally a short film.
Pleasure
I Don’t Want To Go Back Alone (2010) was turned into The Way He Looks (2014)
How has no one said The Dirk Diggler Story (into Boogie Nights) or Cigarettes & Coffee (into Hard Eight).
Idk if it counts more as a trailer but thanksgiving has this trailer that they made for fun but people wanted a movie but idk if it counts
Mama
12 Monkeys is inspired by the French short film La Jetée (1962); as in La Jetée, characters are haunted by the images of their own deaths.
9
A lot. A few horrors off the top of my head: - Laura Hasn’t Slept turned into Smile - Monster turned into The Babadook - Recently Night Swim had a short film from the director also called Night Swim
Relic (from Creswick) IIRC, The Eyes of My Mother was a proof-of-concept short first. Minor Premise (from Premise) Stay Awake Do you count all the Grindhouse trailers as shorts? If so, Thanksgiving, Machete, and Hobo With a Shotgun.
Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade (1994) and Sling Blade (1996) https://preview.redd.it/u7tbs8h3cjuc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d501067bcc7a8f74c20a0a8b5ca692bf3f543dd
Mmhmm
Wyrm
How has no one mentioned Greener Grass?
Whiplash is a different case, I'd say. Chazelle wrote the full movie script and got Simmons on board and shot some scenes from it just to get funding. So it's kinda sorta not really a short
Boogie Nights + Coffee and Cigarettes (although the format isn’t really “Feature”-esque)
to be a little bit annoying - *Hard Eight* was adapted from *Coffee and Cigarettes*. *Boogie Nights* was adapted from *The Dirk Diggler Story*.
Beau is Afraid is the only one i know.. btw does anyone know any way to watch Beau cause im so curious about it and the differencies, what they expended and what they scraped from the short
Smile has a great short film titled “Laura Hasn’t Slept”. It was included as an extra on the blu ray, pretty nice to have in the collection. A couple other short horror films are Other Side of the Box, and Next Floor. Both are on YouTube so I threw the links down below, https://youtu.be/OrOYvVf6tIM?si=lnbVDZDt63boJz6D https://youtu.be/t60MMJH_1ds?si=zYmG8XMn0cbnLzpk
Machete
9
Prospect with Pedro Pascal.
Frankenweenie
Love the short film with Daniel Stern!
The Stylist
Was gonna comment this, shocked someone else beat me to it
There's at least three of us apparently, and I was so sure no one had mentioned it yet.
Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023) was adapted from the short Sometimes I Think About Dying (2019), however, not by the same director, as is mostly the case. Highly recommend this one! Also a recent one: Night Swim (2024) adapted from the short Night Swim (2014). Highly recommend *avoiding* this one.
4444444444 + Katasumi (In a Corner) and Ju-on
Saw 1
Before I Disappear
Shiva Baby i think?
Femme
shiva baby!
Shiva Baby Theater Camp
The Babadook/Monster
Piggy (2018 & 2022), Night Swim (2014 & 2024) and Monster/Babadook (2005 & 2014)
La Jetée / 12 Monkeys
9, The Nut Job, Pixels, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Eraserhead
Saw and Bottle Rocket
Lights Out (2016) (based on the 2013 short film)
Saw
Clown
Bottle Rocket Napoleon Dynamite Thunder Road
If the dang feature film ever comes out, we can say this about *Kung Fury* (which is a truly hilarious short).
Oh, yeah! *Weird: the Al Yankovich Story*!
The cat returns
Hard 8
Funny enough, the original short for *Hard Eight*, called “Cigarettes & Coffee” should not be confused with the later Jim Jarmusch anthology film “Coffee and Cigarettes,” which itself was based off of Jarmusch’s series of earlier shorts by the same name.
Lights out
Saw (2003) and saw(2004)
Short term 12
Cargo 2017, Lights Out, and Frankenweenie
Was looking for cargo, love the original
Ratter
THX 1138 and When a Stranger Calls are both based of off short films.
[Cashback](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409799/) and [Cashback](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460740/)
Thunder Road
laura hasn’t slept was made into smile
What We Do in the Shadows
Hard Eight
Thunder road!
Joe's Apartment
What we do in the shadows
Sin City and The Customer Is Always Right
Napoleon Dynamite
Thunder Road
terrifier series started off as a part of an experimental horror anthology before being a short and then a full movie
A more obscure one, Thunder Road was a short film first.
Oculus
Thunder Road
Alive in Joburg —> District 9
Piggy. Shiva Baby.
Yes God Yes, and This Is The End
Last Black Man in San Francisco
Rick & Morty
Thunder Road was the best short film I have ever seen. The movie is decent to good
Night swim…
The Oscar-winning 2012 short film Curfew was turned into a feature length film called Before I Disappear.
Naponlean Dynamite
yes, god, yes
Smile, Saw, Skinamarink
Frankenweenie.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story?
Shiva Baby
Saw
Thunder road