Metamovies
by Imdbidia | created - 07 Mar 2011 | updated - 14 Aug 2022 | PublicThis list does include movies whose main subject is the filming of a movie or making of a theatre production within the movie. Movie within a movie!
It does not include stories on Hollywood actors biopics, or movies whose main characters/subject are actors/the movies.
An ongoing list.
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1. Adaptation. (2002)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton
Votes: 202,999 | Gross: $22.25M
2. Tristram Shandy (2005)
R | 94 min | Comedy
Director Michael Winterbottom (Northam) attempts to shoot the adaptation of Laurence Sterne's essentially unfilmable novel, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman."
Director: Michael Winterbottom | Stars: Steve Coogan, Jeremy Northam, Rob Brydon, Keeley Hawes
Votes: 13,176 | Gross: $1.25M
3. De zee die denkt (2000)
100 min | Adventure, Biography, Comedy
Incredible optical illusions in a story in a story in a story helps the surprised viewer finally to find out that he has been watching himself all along.
Director: Gert de Graaff | Stars: Bart Klever, Devika Strooker, Rick de Leeuw, Don Duyns
Votes: 565
4. 8½ (1963)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama
A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale, Sandra Milo
Votes: 125,159 | Gross: $0.05M
5. The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
R | 124 min | Drama, Romance
Anna and Mike portray two characters in a film set in 19th century England who fall in love despite the fact that Mike's character is engaged.
Director: Karel Reisz | Stars: Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Hilton McRae, Emily Morgan
Votes: 15,065 | Gross: $22.60M
6. Ed Wood (1994)
R | 127 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Ambitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette
Votes: 183,934 | Gross: $5.89M
7. Broken Embraces (2009)
R | 127 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo, José Luis Gómez
Votes: 42,673 | Gross: $5.01M
8. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
G | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.
Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly | Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen
Votes: 260,572 | Gross: $8.82M
9. Be Kind Rewind (2008)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy
Two bumbling store clerks inadvertently erase the footage from all of the tapes in their video rental store. In order to keep the business running, they re-shoot every film in the store with their own camera, with a budget of zero dollars.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Jack Black, Yasiin Bey, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow
Votes: 94,266 | Gross: $11.17M
10. Day for Night (1973)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A committed film director struggles to complete his movie while coping with a myriad of crises, personal and professional, among the cast and crew.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Léaud, François Truffaut, Valentina Cortese
Votes: 24,776 | Gross: $0.02M
11. Baadasssss! (2003)
R | 109 min | Biography, Drama
Mario Van Peebles' half-documentary/half-homage to his father Melvin Van Peebles' movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971).
Director: Mario Van Peebles | Stars: Mario Van Peebles, Nia Long, Joy Bryant, Ossie Davis
Votes: 5,163 | Gross: $0.37M
12. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
R | 124 min | Drama
A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener
Votes: 98,202 | Gross: $3.08M
13. Corroboree (2007)
Unrated | 95 min | Drama, Mystery
A beautiful young man has been summoned to an eerie meditation retreat by a dying theatre director. The young man has been given a tape of instructions; over a weekend he must perform ... See full summary »
Director: Ben Hackworth | Stars: Conor O'Hanlon, Rebecca Frith, Natasha Herbert, Susan Lyons
Votes: 128
14. CQ (2001)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and realizing that he's infatuated with the sci-fi film's starlet.
Director: Roman Coppola | Stars: Jeremy Davies, Angela Lindvall, Élodie Bouchez, Gérard Depardieu
Votes: 5,089 | Gross: $0.41M
15. Offscreen (2006)
93 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
Actor Nicolas Bro reigns supreme in the role of Nicolas Bro # a man intent on making a film about himself. After his director friend Christoffer Boe lends him a camera, his selfmonitoring is so hair-raisingly private that it becomes impossible to separate fact from fiction.
Director: Christoffer Boe | Stars: Nicolas Bro, Lene Maria Christensen, Karen Margrethe Bjerre, Christoffer Boe
Votes: 712
16. Ararat (2002)
R | 115 min | Drama, War
Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Charles Aznavour, Brent Carver, Eric Bogosian, Simon Abkarian
Votes: 14,775 | Gross: $1.55M
17. Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)
PG | 119 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
New York actors rehearse Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" in a dilapidated theatre.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Wallace Shawn, Phoebe Brand, George Gaynes, Jerry Mayer
Votes: 5,158 | Gross: $1.75M
18. The Big Picture (1989)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Film school grad Nick Chapman thought his career was made after his award winning short film, but discovered Hollywood wasn't as easy as it seems.
Director: Christopher Guest | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Emily Longstreth, J.T. Walsh
Votes: 6,186 | Gross: $0.12M
19. Topsy-Turvy (1999)
R | 160 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Set in the 1880s, the story of how, during a creative dry spell, the partnership of the legendary musical/theatrical writers Gilbert and Sullivan almost dissolves, before they turn it all around and write the Mikado.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Dexter Fletcher, Sukie Smith
Votes: 13,474 | Gross: $6.20M
20. S.O.B. (1981)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama
A successful movie director makes the most expensive film in his career and it becomes a huge flop. He tries to salvage his career by reshooting the film as an erotic production, where its family-friendly star takes her top off.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Julie Andrews, William Holden, Marisa Berenson, Larry Hagman
Votes: 6,476 | Gross: $14.87M
21. White Hunter Black Heart (1990)
PG | 112 min | Adventure, Drama
A thinly fictionalized account of a legendary movie director, whose desire to hunt down an animal turns into a grim situation with his movie crew in Africa.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Jeff Fahey, Charlotte Cornwell, Norman Lumsden
Votes: 13,212 | Gross: $2.32M
22. V.O.S. (2009)
87 min | Comedy
A game between four characters. A comedy about love and friendship. A film about the great lie of story telling that moves between reality and fiction.
Director: Cesc Gay | Stars: Àgata Roca, Vicenta N'Dongo, Andrés Herrera, Paul Berrondo
Votes: 208
23. Blazing Saddles (1974)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Western
In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman
Votes: 152,427 | Gross: $119.50M
24. Tropic Thunder (2008)
R | 107 min | Action, Comedy, War
Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Kahn
Votes: 447,873 | Gross: $110.52M
25. The Truman Show (1998)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Drama
An insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich
Votes: 1,195,723 | Gross: $125.62M
26. The Stunt Man (1980)
R | 131 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.
Director: Richard Rush | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Allen Garfield
Votes: 10,450 | Gross: $7.06M
27. Barton Fink (1991)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner
Votes: 128,938 | Gross: $6.15M
28. Bowfinger (1999)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
When a desperate movie producer fails to get a major star for his bargain-basement film, he decides to shoot the film secretly around him.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham, Christine Baranski
Votes: 73,921 | Gross: $66.38M
29. The Caiman (2006)
112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A skewering of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Director: Nanni Moretti | Stars: Silvio Orlando, Margherita Buy, Jasmine Trinca, Michele Placido
Votes: 5,280
30. For Your Consideration (2006)
PG-13 | 86 min | Comedy
Three actors learn that their respective performances in the film "Home for Purim," a drama set in the mid-1940s American South, are generating award-season buzz.
Director: Christopher Guest | Stars: Catherine O'Hara, Harry Shearer, Parker Posey, Christopher Guest
Votes: 15,886 | Gross: $5.54M
31. Living in Oblivion (1995)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
This ultimate tribute to all independent filmmakers takes place during one day on the set of a non-budget movie.
Director: Tom DiCillo | Stars: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck
Votes: 20,144 | Gross: $1.15M
32. Silent Movie (1976)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy
A film director and his strange friends struggle to produce the first major silent feature film in forty years.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise, Sid Caesar
Votes: 18,482 | Gross: $36.15M
33. Son of Rambow (2007)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
During a long English summer in the early 1980s, two schoolboys from differing backgrounds set out to make a film inspired by First Blood (1982).
Director: Garth Jennings | Stars: Bill Milner, Will Poulter, Jessica Hynes, Anna Wing
Votes: 32,966 | Gross: $1.78M
34. Road to Nowhere (I) (2010)
R | 121 min | Crime, Mystery, Romance
A young filmmaker gets wrapped up in a crime while shooting his new project on location.
Director: Monte Hellman | Stars: Tygh Runyan, Dominique Swain, Shannyn Sossamon, John Diehl
Votes: 1,855 | Gross: $0.04M
35. The Act of Killing (2012)
Not Rated | 117 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
Directors: Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous, Christine Cynn | Stars: Anwar Congo, Herman Koto, Syamsul Arifin, Ibrahim Sinik
Votes: 40,801 | Gross: $0.49M
36. Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
PG-13 | 125 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Author P.L. Travers reflects on her childhood after reluctantly meeting with Walt Disney, who seeks to adapt her Mary Poppins books for the big screen.
Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Annie Rose Buckley, Colin Farrell
Votes: 170,011 | Gross: $83.30M
37. Even the Rain (2010)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, History
As a director and his crew shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus in Cochabamba, Bolivia, local people rise up against plans to privatize the water supply.
Director: Icíar Bollaín | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Luis Tosar, Karra Elejalde, Juan Carlos Aduviri
Votes: 14,220 | Gross: $0.56M
38. Hail, Caesar! (2016)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio's stars in line.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes
Votes: 143,133 | Gross: $30.50M
39. Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary, Animation, Biography
A series of interviews featuring linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky done in hand-drawn animation.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Noam Chomsky, Michel Gondry, Richard Feynman, Michèle Oshima
Votes: 3,678 | Gross: $0.13M
40. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
R | 87 min | Documentary, Comedy, Crime
Following the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world.
Director: Banksy | Stars: Banksy, Mr. Brainwash, Space Invader, Debora Guetta
Votes: 68,819 | Gross: $3.29M
41. S1m0ne (2002)
PG-13 | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
A producer's film is endangered when his star walks off, so he decides to digitally create an actress to substitute for the star, becoming an overnight sensation that everyone thinks is a real person.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, Rachel Roberts, Benjamin Salisbury
Votes: 62,455 | Gross: $9.68M
42. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
R | 161 min | Comedy, Drama
A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch
Votes: 847,316 | Gross: $142.50M
43. Official Competition (2021)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
A wealthy businessman hires a famous filmmaker to help make a smash hit film.
Directors: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat | Stars: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Martínez, José Luis Gómez
Votes: 14,699
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