The Prestige and The Illusionist were released in 2006, earning critical acclaim and Oscar nominations. The Prestige outperformed The Illusionist at the box office and in overall critical reception. Both films featured talented casts and a theme of magician rivalry set in Victorian London.

Long before there was Barbenheimer, there was the classic 2006 magician movie clash between The Prestige and The Illusionist. Christopher Nolan's The Prestige featured an outstanding cast led by Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, Andy Serkis, and David Bowie. It was just the fifth feature film directed by Nolan and his first before The Dark Knight, which arguably remains his greatest movie to date even after Oppenheimer won Best Picture at the 2023 Oscars. The Prestige was nominated for two Oscars in Cinematography and Art Direction and received a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 77% and an audience score of 92%.

Meanwhile, The Illusionist was written and...