Comparing something as cookie cutter as movie production, to "sofware" doesn't seem fair. It's comparing the problems of tool users to tool makers.
Movies are mostly cookie cutter. You can go rent a full crew, with equipment and catering, for a weekend with a 30 minute phone call. Try hiring a crew of software developers, for your specific problem, in 30 minutes.
Software isn't cookie cutter, because software isn't fundamentally "software", it's a means to implement a solution for a specific problem. The difference in problem space a software developer can run into is massive. Unless you've already done it before, or are doing something incredibly cookie cutter, time estimates are based on gut feeling and past, probably incorrect, assumptions.
If you're doing something cookie cutter in software, then you can get great time estimates.
If you're doing something unusual with movies, then you can go WAY over time (see anything James Cameron touches).