The Stone Postulate

THE STONE POSTULATE

Catch Me If You Can and Big Fish exist in the same universe, and Edward Bloom is simply another alias of Frank Abagnale, Jr. Put together, the two shows' plots spell out his entire life story.

This postulate is named after Alex Stone, who portrayed both characters at McLean High School and inspired this theory.

While working as a pilot in Catch Me If You Can, Frank flies into Alabama, where he meets Sandra. He takes the name Edward Bloom, and the two have an illegitimate child before Frank must fly away. After Carl catches him, Frank spends seven years in prison, before turning to a career with the FBI, which explains why Edward Bloom is absent for most of Will's childhood.

After his release, Frank ditches Brenda because she's a snitch and marries Sandra. Bloom uses the skills he developed as a con man to fabricate fantastical stories for his son and hide his illegitimate past and current career, using details gleaned from his time as a physician in Atlanta, Georgia to lend credibility to his tales set in rural Alabama.

During his legitimate career, Frank meets Brenda again. Though their relationship is over, Brenda is impressed with how Frank cleaned up his act. Frank retires as Edward in Alabama with Sandra. Once he discovers Will is investigating his past, he calls a favor with Brenda, and the two agree that she will pose as "Jenny Hill" to throw Will off his path.

Frank dies happy knowing his son will never know of his past.

TL;DR "Goodbye" my ass.

MORE COINCIDENCES:
Steven Spielberg was originally slated to direct the movie version of Big Fish. He dropped the project to work on Catch Me If You Can.
Norbert Leo Butz was cast in the Broadway productions of both shows (although in Catch Me If You Can he portrayed Hanratty, not Abagnale.)