It’s never easy to predict the future, and if you go to get a psychic reading, some psychics won’t even try to predict what will happen in your future, but will give you advice on what you can do to make your life better today. But did you know that some movies and television shows have predicted the future? Some people never would have imagined that the things they saw on television would come true later.
Even though watching movies is meant to entertain us and distract us from the world around us, some of these movies have the power to show what could really happen in real-life events. This might be some kind of coincidence, but what if this foreshadowing was really seen? Keep reading to find out the top 6 real-world predictions in movies and television!
6 Seinfeld’s Muffin Top Gag Becomes Real at McDonald’s
“Seinfeld” had a lot of strange but hilarious ideas that felt like they could only exist in sitcom land, but every now and then, something from that quirky little universe makes its way into reality. One perfect example? The muffin tops. Fans of the show probably remember when Elaine, frustrated by the unappreciated muffin bottom, suggested her former boss open a bakery that sold only the tops. The episode made a strong, and kind of genius, case the top is the best part, after all.
Fast-forward a couple of decades, and McDonald’s actually tested a product called “Muffin Toppers.” Yep, just the fluffy, golden caps without the dense, less-loved bottoms. It was a surprisingly bold move from one of the biggest fast-food giants in the world, and many couldn’t help but notice how closely the idea mirrored that classic “Seinfeld” episode. While it’s unclear whether McDonald’s followed Elaine’s advice of baking the whole muffin and tossing the stump, as Mr. Lippman hilariously learned was necessary for a good top, one can only imagine the fate of the poor discarded bottoms. McNugget filler, maybe?
5 Arrested Development Beat the Trumps to Their Own Storyline
“Arrested Development” might have started as a satire of a dysfunctional rich family, but it somehow ended up predicting America’s real-life political drama years before it unfolded. At its center is George Bluth Sr., a shady real estate mogul whose shady business practices lead to an arrest. He leaves the family empire in the hands of his painfully clueless son, Michael. Then there’s Lindsay, the daughter who claims to fight for causes but never quite sticks with any of them. Sound familiar?
The similarities don’t stop there. In the show’s fourth season, George Sr. comes up with a plan to build a border wall and ropes in a right-wing politician to help push the idea. Supporters chant “Put up this wall!” and this aired in 2013, years before similar real-world chants filled rally venues. While the Trumps have had their fair share of misadventures, the Bluths might have beaten them to the punch when it comes to satirical dysfunction. At least the Cornballer didn’t bankrupt the entire casino.
4 Full House & Desperate Housewives Predict Their Stars’ Legal Trouble
Lori Loughlin, better known to many as wholesome Aunt Becky from “Full House,” shocked fans when she was caught up in the infamous college admissions scandal. But here’s the kicker her fictional counterpart once starred in an episode that pretty much laid the groundwork for what would later happen in real life. In “Be True to Your Pre-School,” Uncle Jesse lies on a school application to give their twins a better chance, only for Becky to step in and insist they come clean. In reality, the opposite happened.
And it wasn’t just “Full House” that eerily mirrored real events. Felicity Huffman, another actress tied to the scandal, had a storyline on “Desperate Housewives” where her character and on-screen husband donate a hefty sum to get their twins into an elite school. While those plots were exaggerated for entertainment, it’s hard not to see the real-life echoes, especially considering both shows aired years before the scandal made headlines. Reality can be just as dramatic as fiction.
3 Akira Called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics—Right Down to the Backlash
The legendary anime “Akira” is often credited with shaping the cyberpunk genre, but it also made a surprising real-world prediction that Tokyo would host the Olympics in 2020. What makes it even spookier is a detail early in the film where a countdown to the games is shown alongside graffiti that reads “Just cancel it.” In the actual 2020 Olympics, which faced delays and major criticism due to the pandemic, a lot of people were saying the exact same thing.
Though the real Tokyo Olympics eventually happened in 2021, they were eerily quiet, with no live crowds, limited celebrations, and a lingering feeling that maybe they shouldn’t have gone forward at all. “Akira” was released back in 1988, long before the Olympics were even awarded to Tokyo, but somehow, it managed to capture the vibe decades in advance. From the futuristic visuals to the crumbling public optimism, it’s a case of fiction and reality blending in a way that makes you raise your eyebrows.
2 Contagion Predicted the Pandemic with Chilling Accuracy
When the pandemic hit, one movie surged back into the public consciousness “Contagion.” At first, it seemed like just another tense thriller, but the more people watched, the more eerie it felt. The 2011 film follows the spread of a deadly virus originating in China, traced back to, you guessed it, a bat. The symptoms, the transmission, the social panic, it all feels like a mirror image of what the world would experience just a few years later.
But it wasn’t just the medical side of things that made “Contagion” so eerily prophetic. The movie also explores the social response hoarding essentials, spreading misinformation, falling for phony cures, and even questioning scientists and public health authorities. It captured the chaos before we lived through it, and now, it’s become something of a cautionary tale that feels less like fiction and more like a documentary in disguise.
1 Bruce Lee’s “Game of Death” Foreshadowed Brandon Lee’s Tragic Fate
“Game of Death” was supposed to be another legendary notch in Bruce Lee’s career, but it ended up being strangely prophetic. The plot involves Lee’s character, Billy, being shot on a movie set by a live bullet that was meant to be a blank. He survives, fakes his death, and comes back to get revenge. It’s intense, cinematic, and entirely fictional… or so we thought.
In a heartbreaking twist, Bruce’s real-life son Brandon Lee was fatally shot on the set of “The Crow” under disturbingly similar circumstances. A real bullet had unknowingly been lodged in the gun used in the scene, and when the blank was fired, it acted like live ammunition. To make it even more surreal, “The Crow” also involves Lee’s character returning from the dead to avenge his fiancée’s murder. The parallels between father and son, fiction and reality, are almost too close to process and serve as a haunting reminder of how life can sometimes imitate art most tragically.
