Movies like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre (2018)
The best movies like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre (2018) are Deathtrap (1982), The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930) and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010). If A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre hooked you with its comedy and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAdaptation. (2002)7.3/10 from 2,952 votes
- NewestLamenti Siderali (2026)Released 2026
Deathtrap (1982)
A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930)
The boys think their days of fishing to feed themselves have come to an end, when Stan's rich uncle Ebenezer dies leaving a large estate. But they soon learn that Ebenezer was murdered and all the relatives, including Stan, are suspects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010)
Scooby-Doo and the gang are on the case when a mysterious lake monster starts scaring the guests at a summer resort in Erie Point, where Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy have taken on seasonal jobs to pay for a barn they accidentally burned down. But in addition to sneaking suspicions, there's some romance in the air.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho Done It? (1942)
Two dumb soda jerks dream of writing radio mysteries. When they try to pitch an idea at a radio station, they end up in the middle of a real murder when the station owner is killed during a broadcast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cheap Detective (1978)
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSong of the Thin Man (1947)
While attending a glamorous jazz cruise on New York’s East River, Nick and Nora Charles witness the fatal shooting of a wealthy patron. When suspicion falls on a young bandleader and his musicians, the couple steps in to clear their friends and uncover the real killer. Their investigation leads through a lively world of jazz clubs, radio personalities, high society, and backstage rivalries, where almost everyone has a secret and the next clue may be hidden in the music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShadow of the Thin Man (1941)
While attending a major horse race with their young son, Nick Jr., Nick and Nora Charles witnesse a shocking murder from the crowded grandstand. What first appears to be an isolated killing soon leads to a maze of corruption, blackmail, gambling scandals, and criminal intrigue. As Nick investigates, he encounters suspicious bookmakers, dishonest officials, rival gangsters, and a mysterious killer determined to stay ahead of the law. Nora, as always, is never far from the action, bringing her quick wit and fearless curiosity to the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
After spending decades living in the shadow of his more famous and successful sibling, Consulting Detective Sigerson Holmes is called upon to help solve a crucial case that leads him on a hilarious trail of false identities, stolen documents, secret codes... and exposed backsides.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Honey Pot (1967)
In Venice, a millionaire hires an actor to help him prank three greedy exes into thinking he's dying and leaving his fortune to one of them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadioland Murders (1994)
A series of mysterious crimes threatens the existence of a new radio network.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Late Show (1977)
An over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWHAT DID JACK DO? (2017)
In a locked down train station, a homicide detective conducts an interview with a tormented monkey who is suspected of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Thin Man (1939)
Nick and Nora Charles are back - and this time, they have a baby, a wealthy new client, and another murder to solve! Retired detective Nick is enjoying family life with Nora and their young son, Nick Jr., when eccentric industrialist Colonel MacFay asks for protection after receiving threatening messages. When MacFay is found dead at his isolated estate, Nick and Nora spring into action, questioning a houseful of suspicious guests and uncovering greed, blackmail, family secrets, and a dangerous inheritance plot. With their trademark wit and sophistication, the glamorous couple balances parenthood, parties, and peril as they race to expose the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHigh Anxiety (1977)
A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
To the Los Angeles elite, Ford Fairlane is known as "Mr. Rock 'n' Roll Detective." This loudmouthed ladies' man serves an exclusive rock star clientele, who depend on his keen eye and smug discretion. So when a heavy-metal musician dies mid-concert, Fairlane is on the case before the lights come up. But things turn shocking when radio personality Johnny Crunch hires Fairlane to find a missing groupie mere hours before he is electrocuted live on air.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSketch (2025)
When a young girl’s sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life—chaotic, real, and on the loose. As the town descends into chaos, her family must reunite and stop the monsters they never meant to unleash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThrow Momma from the Train (1987)
Larry Donner, an author with a cruel ex-wife, teaches a writing workshop in which one of his students, Owen, is fed up with his domineering mother. When Owen watches a Hitchcock classic that seems to mirror his own life, he decides to put the movie's plot into action and offers to kill Larry's ex-wife, if Larry promises to murder his mom. Before Larry gets a chance to react to the plan, it seems that Owen has already set things in motion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBottle Rocket (1993)
Dysfunctional friends Dignan and Anthony plan and execute a robbery with their pot-growing friend, Bob. The short film that inspired Wes Anderson’s feature debut.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025)
A struggling writer in the midst of a divorce befriends a retired serial killer who incidentally becomes his marriage counselor by day, and killing counselor for his next book by night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dream Team (1989)
Four mental patients on a field trip in New York City must save their caring chaperone, who ends up being taken to a hospital in a coma after accidentally witnessing a murder, before the killers can find him and finish the job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNotes from a Fish (2025)
An aspiring novelist on the verge of a publishing breakthrough loses his unconventional muse, a tropical fish, sending him and an unstable fisheries officer on a series of bizarre misadventures in search of the fish rumoured to hold mysterious, almost magical powers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & mystery
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Writer Harry Block draws inspiration from people he knows, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdaptation. (2002)
Charlie Kaufman is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman and Orlean's book become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the other's.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlithe Spirit (2020)
A spiritualist medium holds a seance for a writer suffering from writers block but accidentally summons the spirit of his deceased first wife which leads to an increasingly complex love triangle with his current wife of five years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisCrashing (2007)
It sounds like a budding writer's dream: a bestselling first novel, a luxurious house in Malibu, and a trophy wife... But it all unravels when writer's block and a failed marriage send Richard McMurray out into the streets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Harold Crick is a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArgylle (2024)
When the plots of reclusive author Elly Conway's fictional espionage novels begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past. Accompanied by her cat Alfie and Aidan, a cat-allergic spy, Elly races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Conway's fictional world and her real one begins to blur.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWe Love You, Sally Carmichael! (2017)
Readers across the world are in love with author Sally Carmichael's series of romance novels that chronicle the epic love story between a human girl and a merman. But no one knows that Sally Carmichael is really Simon Hayes, a bitter, serious novelist - and Simon would like to keep it that way. When he is forced to meet a movie star about the movie adaptation, his life of anonymity starts to crumble.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Columnist (2019)
An opinion columnist and author, subjected to constant misogynistic abuse on social media, snaps and goes on a killing spree against her online abusers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre?
The closest matches to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre are Deathtrap (1982), The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930) and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre?
Start with Deathtrap (1982), the closest match to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre?
Adaptation. (2002), rated 7.3/10 by 2,952 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre?
Lamenti Siderali (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre?
Yes: Deathtrap (1982), The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930) and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010).
How are movies similar to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.