Twin films
Twin films are films with the same, or very similar, plot produced or released at the same time by two different film studios.[1] The phenomenon can result from two or more[2] production companies investing in similar scripts around the same time, resulting in a race to distribute the films to audiences.[3] Some attribute twin films to industrial espionage, the movement of staff between studios, or that the same screenplays are sent to several film studios before being accepted. Another possible explanation is if the films deal with topical issues, such as volcanic eruptions, reality television, terrorist attacks or significant anniversaries, resulting in multiple discovery of the concept.[3]
Screenwriter Terry Rossio notes that there are always multiple film projects with similar subjects being developed in multiple studios while usually only one of them makes it into production in a given period of time, and therefore twin films are better regarded as exceptions.[4] In one case, for the 1974 film The Towering Inferno, the fear of having competing action thrillers, both set in a burning skyscraper, convinced two Hollywood studios to merge their productions into one (all-star) film.[5]
While twin films usually are big budget films, a mockbuster can be made with a low budget, with similar titles, aesthetics and/or theme as blockbuster films.[6] Mockbusters are usually given more limited release and marketing, intending to piggy-back on the public interest in the topic driven by the major film.
Producer Bingham Ray recalls a conversation where the screenwriter of the 2006 Truman Capote biopic Infamous phoned to announce that his script had been finished. Ray said "I know, I've got it on my desk!" before realizing that he actually had the screenplay to Capote, a biopic by a different writer.[7]
Examples
Noted examples of twin films are included in this list:[7][8][9][10]
First film | Release date | Second film | Release date | Further info |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jezebel | 1938 | Gone with the Wind | 1939 | William Wyler's Jezebel (1938) was reportedly created for Bette Davis when she failed to win the highly coveted role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). Both films were about feisty, independent Southern belles during the American Civil War. |
Young Mr. Lincoln | 1939 | Abe Lincoln in Illinois | 1940 | [11][12] Both are about Abraham Lincoln. |
Oscar Wilde | 1960 | The Trials of Oscar Wilde | 1960 | Both are about the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. |
Dr. Strangelove | 1964 | Fail-Safe | 1964 | Both deal with the concept of accidental nuclear war, although Dr. Strangelove is satire, while Fail-Safe is a drama. |
Harlow | 1965 | Harlow | 1965 | Both were based on the life story of Jean Harlow. |
You're a Big Boy Now | 1966 | The Graduate | 1967 | Also Benjamin (1968). All are coming-of-age comedy-drama films about a young man being pursued by an older woman.[13] |
Yours, Mine and Ours | 1968 | With Six You Get Eggroll | 1968 | Both movies deal with widowed parents marrying and combining both of their families. |
Leo the Last | 1970 | The Landlord | 1970 | Both deal with issues of class and race and feature an upper-class white man who moves into a lower-class black neighborhood and gets involved with the residents.[14] |
The Strawberry Statement | 1970 | Getting Straight | 1970 | Also The Revolutionary and R. P. M. (1970), are all dramas about campus revolt.[15] |
Bloody Mama | 1970 | The Grissom Gang | 1971 | Both based on the life story of Ma Barker.[16] |
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song | 1971 | Shaft | 1971 | Both are frequently credited as the earliest examples of the blaxploitation genre. |
Godspell | 1973 | Jesus Christ Superstar | 1973 | Both adaptations of Broadway musicals based on the life of Jesus Christ.[17][18] |
The Gambler | 1974 | California Split | 1974 | Both portray Jewish protagonists addicted to gambling on a downward spiral. |
The Conversation | 1974 | The Parallax View | 1974 | Also Executive Action (1973). Both are paranoid thrillers about an assassination. |
Cannonball | 1976 | The Gumball Rally | 1976 | Both about the same illegal cross-country race. |
Go Tell the Spartans | 1978 | Coming Home | 1978 | Also The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979) are all about American involvement in the Vietnam War. |
The Warriors | 1979 | The Wanderers | 1979 | Both are about gang wars between New York teenage street gangs of various ethnicities. |
Nosferatu the Vampyre | 1979 | Dracula | 1979 | Also Love At First Bite (1979), all based on Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. |
The Amityville Horror | 1979 | The Shining | 1980 | Both supernatural horror films about a family moving into a building where a previous family of tenants has been murdered, in which the father "becomes" the previous murderer, ultimately attacking his family with an axe. |
Border Cop | 1979 | Borderline | 1980 | Also The Border (1982); All involve border patrol or immigration enforcement agents that have dangerous encounters with criminals. |
The Howling | 1981 | Wolfen | 1981 | Also An American Werewolf In London (1981); All either involve werewolves or supernatural wolf-like creatures. |
Porky's | 1981 | The Last American Virgin | 1982 | Also Screwballs and Losin' It (both 1983); all are sex comedies depicting a group of young male friends trying to lose their respective virginities or perform another sexually related mission. |
Some Kind of Hero | 1982 | First Blood | 1982 | Both feature a Vietnam War vet who returns home who then has trouble adjusting to civilian life. |
Carmen | 1983 | Carmen | 1984 | Both are adaptations of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. |
Wild Style | 1983 | Beat Street | 1984 | Both well-received golden age hip hop films, focusing on all four pillars of hip hop culture.[19][20] See also 1983 documentary, Style Wars, focusing on graffiti and to a lesser extent breakdancing; 1984 film Breakin' focused largely on breakdancing; 1985's Krush Groove, a fictionalized retelling of the founding of Def Jam, focused more on and rap music. Many overlapping performers appear in the films, such as the Rock Steady Crew in Wild Style, Style Wars, and Beat Street. |
Country | 1984 | The River | 1984 | Also Places in the Heart (1984); All are about the difficulties faced by family farms. |
Dreamscape | 1984 | A Nightmare On Elm Street | 1984 | Both are about people entering the dreams of others and being able to kill them in real-life by killing them in their dreams. |
Gremlins | 1984 | Ghoulies | 1985 | Also Critters (1986), all involve small destructive, evil creatures. |
Rambo: First Blood Part II | 1985 | Commando | 1985 | Also Missing in Action (1984). All are one-man army action films. |
The Return of the Living Dead | 1985 | Day of the Dead | 1985 | Zombie movies, released almost simultaneously, both arising from the collaboration between John Russo and George A. Romero on Night of the Living Dead |
Weird Science | 1985 | Real Genius | 1985 | Also My Science Project (1985), all feature teens dabbling in mad science and winding up in over their heads. |
Back to the Future | 1985 | Peggy Sue Got Married | 1986 | Both feature protagonists who go back in time and meet high school versions of their family members, played by the same actors. |
Fright Night | 1985 | Vamp | 1986 | Also The Lost Boys and Near Dark (1987); all are vampire films involving teenage characters. |
Top Gun | 1986 | Iron Eagle | 1986 | Both are films about fighter pilots. |
An American Tail | 1986 | The Great Mouse Detective | 1986 | Both are animated feature films starring mice. |
GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords | 1986 | The Transformers: The Movie | 1986 | Both are animated feature films derived from TV cartoons based on toy lines about transforming robots. |
The Vindicator | 1986 | RoboCop | 1987 | Both are about an innocent man who is left mutilated and near-dead by villains, is reconstructed into a cyborg by a special-weapons company, and seeks revenge on the people responsible for his fate. |
Gothic | 1986 | Haunted Summer | 1988 | Also Rowing with the Wind (1988). All are set in 1816 when Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley and John William Polidori spend a summer in the isolated Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva. |
Link | 1986 | Monkey Shines | 1988 | Both are horror-films with primates as the antagonist. |
The Secret of My Succe$s | 1987 | Working Girl | 1988 | Both about people starting new lower-level jobs in New York City, pretending to be executives, coming up with great ideas regarding takeovers, and getting the girl/guy that was "out of their league". |
Like Father, Like Son | 1987 | Big | 1988 | Also Vice Versa, 18 Again! and 14 Going on 30 (1988); all portray boys who transform into, or who switch bodies with, adult men. |
Dangerous Liaisons | 1988 | Valmont | 1989 | Both are adaptations of the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, with Dangerous Liaisons being based on the recently successful stage play of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton. |
Turner & Hooch | 1989 | K-9 | 1989 | Both are about a police officer who gets a dog for a partner. |
DeepStar Six | 1989 | Leviathan | 1989 | Also The Abyss, The Evil Below, Lords of the Deep and The Rift (1989); all are underwater thrillers involving explorers discovering strange new (and in most of the movies hostile) creatures in the ocean. |
The Forbidden Dance | 1990 | Lambada | 1990 | Both are films that centre around the dance, the Lambada. See also 1990's Lambada, also known as Rhythm and Passion, a third similar film from Brazil and Italy. |
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves | 1991 | Robin Hood | 1991 | Both are based on the legend of Robin Hood. |
December Bride | 1991 | The Playboys | 1992 | Both films tell of a young Irish woman in a small rural community who decides to have a child out of wedlock. |
Point Break | 1991 | Stone Cold | 1991 | Also Beyond the Law (1992). Both are stunt heavy, action-crime films where an undercover cop must infiltrate a criminal organization while being berated by their superiors. |
1492: Conquest of Paradise | 1992 | Christopher Columbus: The Discovery | 1992 | Both are about Christopher Columbus and his discovery of the Americas in 1492. |
Fear of a Black Hat | 1993 | CB4 | 1993 | Both are hip hop parodies, Fear of a Black Hat is a mockumentary, and both films largely parody N.W.A, among other popular acts.[19] |
Mad Dog and Glory | 1993 | Indecent Proposal | 1993 | Both films involve a man buying a woman who is not a prostitute for a short period of time and a large amount of money. |
Hard Target | 1993 | Surviving the Game | 1994 | Both are modern-day action-adventure thrillers that are heavily inspired by The Most Dangerous Game. |
Tombstone | 1993 | Wyatt Earp | 1994 | Both are Wyatt Earp biopics. |
Rookie of the Year | 1993 | Little Big League | 1994 | Both are films in which a 12-year-old boy becomes involved in major league baseball. |
Kalifornia | 1993 | Natural Born Killers | 1994 | Also 1993 mini-series Murder in the Heartland, all are road movies about a couple engaging in multi-state killing sprees and all directly or loosely based on real murderer Charles Starkweather. Both films have Juliette Lewis as a main character. |
Three of Hearts | 1993 | Threesome | 1994 | Both films involve a love triangle between a heterosexual, a homosexual and a bisexual. |
Terminal Velocity | 1994 | Drop Zone | 1994 | Both are action films that involve skydiving. |
The Air Up There | 1994 | The Scout | 1994 | Both films are about a desperate American scout who thinks he found an extraordinary talent in an unlikely foreign locale, but bringing the player to stardom has unthought-of difficulties and the scout learns life lessons from the player he is supposed to be developing. |
Camp Nowhere | 1994 | Heavyweights | 1995 | Both movies take place at summer camp and include a preteen protagonist who's initially reluctant to go. |
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | 1994 | To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar | 1995 | Both have the plot of drag queens going on a road trip across their continent (in one case Australia, in the other, the United States), in a journey of self-discovery. |
Street Fighter | 1994 | Mortal Kombat | 1995 | Also Double Dragon (1994). All are martial arts action adventure films based on video game franchises. |
Braveheart | 1995 | Rob Roy | 1995 | Also The Bruce (1996); All are adventure/war biopics set in Scotland.[8] |
Babe | 1995 | Gordy | 1995 | Both are family films starring piglets.[8] |
Showgirls | 1995 | Striptease | 1996 | Both are erotic drama films centered around a lead character involved in the stripper profession.[21] |
Powder | 1995 | Phenomenon | 1996 | Both tell the story of a man with telepathic powers that make him an outcast in a small town. |
The Craft | 1996 | Little Witches | 1996 | Both are films about young teenage outcasts becoming witches |
Dante's Peak | 1997 | Volcano | 1997 | Both are disaster films centered around volcanic eruptions.[7][8] |
The Jackal | 1997 | The Assignment | 1997 | Both are action thrillers dealing with assassins called "Jackal." |
Kundun | 1997 | Seven Years in Tibet | 1997 | Both are fact-based dramas set in mid-20th century Tibet, with the 14th Dalai Lama as a main character.[8] |
The House of Yes | 1997 | The Myth of Fingerprints | 1997 | Both films center around dysfunctional families gathering for Thanksgiving. |
Prefontaine | 1997 | Without Limits | 1998 | Both are biographical sports films about distance runner Steve Prefontaine. |
Antz | 1998 | A Bug's Life | 1998 | Both are computer animated films about insects, starring a non-conformist ant who falls in love with an ant princess, leaves the mound, and eventually returns and is hailed as a hero.[8] |
Deep Impact | 1998 | Armageddon | 1998 | Also Doomsday Rock (1997), Asteroid (1997), Judgment Day (1999), and Tycus (1998). All are global catastrophic risk disaster films centered around an impending impact event that threatens to end most or all life on Earth.[7][8] |
Saving Private Ryan | 1998 | The Thin Red Line | 1998 | Both are prestige dramas about World War II.[8] |
Dead Man on Campus | 1998 | The Curve | 1998 | Both films involve college students attempting to utilize pass by catastrophe. |
54 | 1998 | Last Days of Disco | 1998 | Both films are set again the backdrop of the waning disco era of the late 1970s. |
The Truman Show | 1998 | Ed TV | 1999 | Both are films in which a man's life is a 24-hour-a-day TV show.[8] |
Tale of the Mummy | 1998 | The Mummy | 1999 | Both are about mummies coming back to life and killing people. |
Dark City | 1998 | The Matrix | 1999 | Also The Thirteenth Floor and eXistenZ (1999);[8] all are science fiction films involving the theme of whether the world is real or an illusion. All except for Dark City involve virtual reality in a computer system. |
Entrapment | 1999 | The Thomas Crown Affair | 1999 | Both are caper films focused on the relationship between an attractive female insurance investigator and a male thief who steals an expensive painting by a famous artist.[8] (Coincidentally, the male lead in both films is also played by an actor who has portrayed James Bond.) |
End of Days | 1999 | Stigmata | 1999 | [8] Also Lost Souls (2000); all are supernatural religious horror films involving the Catholic Church. Both End of Days and Stigmata star Gabriel Byrne as a main character. Both End of Days and Lost Souls involve the theme of Satan taking possession of a man's body. |
The Haunting | 1999 | House on Haunted Hill | 1999 | Both are horror films in which a group of strangers are brought under false pretenses to spend a night in a haunted house. Both based on original works from 1959 with similar names, the novel The Haunting of Hill House and the film House on Haunted Hill, respectively. |
The Legend of the Titanic | 1999 | Titanic: The Legend Goes On | 2000 | Both are Italian animated films involving the maiden voyage and sinking of the Titanic. Both these films involve a romantic relationship between a young man and woman of different social backgrounds, and both feature anthropomorphic talking mice who are emigrating to America, as well as other talking animals. |
Bicentennial Man | 1999 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | 2001 | Both are science fiction films dealing with the theme of humanoid robots seeking to experience emotion and be human. |
The Road to El Dorado | 2000 | The Emperor's New Groove | 2000 | Both are historical animated comedies set in what is now Latin America. |
Scary Movie | 2000 | Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth | 2000 | Both are horror movie spoofs.[8] |
Mission to Mars | 2000 | Red Planet | 2000 | Both are science fiction adventure films about expeditions to Mars.[8] |
Wonder Boys | 2000 | Finding Forrester | 2000 | [8] Both are films involving a writer. |
Gone in 60 Seconds | 2000 | The Fast and the Furious | 2001 | Both are action crime films in which cars are an important part of the plot. |
Heist | 2001 | The Score | 2001 | [8] Both are crime thriller films involving a major robbery. |
Autumn In New York | 2000 | Sweet November | 2001 | Both films center on free-spirited young women who are diagnosed with terminal illnesses set against the fall backdrop. |
Joe Dirt | 2001 | Run Ronnie Run! | 2002 | Both are crude humor stories about lovable-ish rednecks. There are jokes that are nearly identical in each movie. However, Run Ronnie Run! is based on a Mr. Show with Bob and David character that first appeared in 1995. |
Stealing Harvard | 2002 | Orange County | 2002 | Both are comedy films about someone resorting to drastic measures in order to obtain acceptance to, or tuition for, a prestigious college. |
Liberty Stands Still | 2002 | Phone Booth | 2002 | Both movies revolve around people who answer a ringing phone in a public place and are held hostage there by a sniper who has an agenda. |
Finding Nemo | 2003 | Shark Tale | 2004 | Both are computer animated films that take place in the ocean and center around anthropomorphic fish characters. |
Freddy vs. Jason | 2003 | Alien vs. Predator | 2004 | Both feature horror icons from the '80s fighting against each other, while humans end up in the crossfire. |
Chasing Liberty | 2004 | First Daughter | 2004 | Both are romantic comedy films about the rebellious daughter of the President of the United States.[9] |
The Cave | 2005 | The Descent | 2005 | [8] Both are horror films in which people encounter deadly creatures in a cave system. |
Red Eye | 2005 | Flightplan | 2005 | Both are thriller films set on airplanes.[8] |
War of the Worlds | 2005 | H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds | 2005 | Both are adaptations of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. |
Sky High | 2005 | Zoom | 2006 | Both are about kids training to become superheroes. |
Madagascar | 2005 | The Wild | 2006 | Both are computer-animated films involving similar animal characters from New York's Central Park Zoo being introduced to the wild. See The Wild#Madagascar similarities. |
Capote | 2005 | Infamous | 2006 | Both are dramas about Truman Capote and the writing of In Cold Blood.[7][8] |
Beowulf & Grendel | 2005 | Beowulf | 2007 | Both are fantasy adventure films based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf. |
United 93 | 2006 | Flight 93 | 2006 | Both are dramas about United Airlines Flight 93.[8] |
The Prestige | 2006 | The Illusionist | 2006 | Both are films about 19th-century magicians.[8] |
Happy Feet | 2006 | Surf's Up | 2007 | Both are Computer-animated family comedy films about penguins.[22][21] |
The Zodiac | 2006 | Zodiac | 2007 | Also Curse of the Zodiac (2007);[23] All are films based on the story of the Zodiac Killer. |
27 Dresses | 2008 | Made of Honor | 2008 | Both are romantic comedys centering on weddings and loyal friends taking part as bridesmaids. |
Coco Chanel | 2008 | Coco Before Chanel | 2009 | Also Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009). All related to French fashion designer Coco Chanel. |
Eagle Eye | 2008 | Echelon Conspiracy | 2009 | Both center around a government AI supercomputer that is tasked with protecting the US through ubiquitous surveillance and endless access to nearly all technology, which becomes too autonomous and powerful.[24] |
Floored | 2009 | The Pit | 2009 | Both are documentary films focused on the people and business of commodities trading floors, with special attention to the advent of electronic trading and the threat it posed to the traditional open outcry system. |
Observe and Report | 2009 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop | 2009 | Both are comedy films about an overweight mall cop.[2] |
Gamer | 2009 | Surrogates | 2009 | Also Avatar (2009); all are science fiction films in which people control physical remotely-operated bodies.[2][25][26] |
The Road | 2009 | The Book of Eli | 2010 | Both films are set in a post-apocalyptic world, where the main characters try to survive by travelling. |
Armored | 2009 | Takers | 2010 | Both are stylized, action-crime robbery thrillers. Matt Dillon stars in both films. |
The A-Team | 2010 | The Losers | 2010 | Both are fast-paced action films about dishonored military operatives seeking redemption and revenge after being betrayed on a secret mission. In addition, both are based on pre-existing series from other mediums (one is based on a television show and the other a comic book). |
Despicable Me | 2010 | Megamind | 2010 | Both are computer animated films about super-villains who turned evil because of bad upbringings, finding themselves seduced to the good side to defeat an even worse villain.[27] |
Skyline | 2010 | Battle: Los Angeles | 2011 | Both are alien invasion movies that primarily take place in Los Angeles. Sony Pictures, the studio of Battle, initiated legal action against the directors and special effects gurus of Skyline for allegedly ripping off ideas and equipment for their similar film. Sony later dismissed their arbitration, stating they were satisfied their own special effects were not used in Skyline.[28] |
No Strings Attached | 2011 | Friends with Benefits | 2011 | Both are romantic comedies about a pair of friends who have a casual, non-romantic sexual relationship and eventually fall in love. No Strings Attached had the working title Friends with Benefits, but had to be renamed due to a conflict with the other film.[29] |
War of the Buttons | 2011 | War of the Buttons | 2011 | Both are French film adaptations of the 1912 novel War of the Buttons, released a week apart from one another, though the first was set in the Algerian War while the second was set in World War II.[30] |
Transformers: Dark of the Moon | 2011 | Man of Steel | 2013 | Both films are about an alien invasion of an American city, led by an alien military commander who intends to use planet Earth to rebuild their destroyed world. |
The Raid | 2011 | Dredd | 2012 | Both films deal with a law enforcement officer infiltrated a large residential building in pursuit of a crimelord, wherein the crimelord attempts to turn the residents against the officer.[31] |
Extraterrestrial | 2011 | Seeking a Friend for the End of the World | 2012 | [32] Also 4:44 Last Day on Earth (2011) and Melancholia (2011);[33] All are apocalyptic science fiction films. |
Quartet | 2012 | A Late Quartet | 2012 | Both are about the members of a string quartet facing old age.[34] |
The Girl | 2012 | Hitchcock | 2012 | Both are Alfred Hitchcock biopics. |
Lincoln | 2012 | Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter | 2012 | Both films are about United States President Abraham Lincoln.[35] |
Mirror Mirror | 2012 | Snow White and the Huntsman | 2012 | Both are Snow White films. |
Zero Dark Thirty | 2012 | Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden | 2012 | Both films are about the assassination of Osama bin Laden |
Battleship | 2012 | Pacific Rim | 2013 | Both involve the invasion of Earth by extraterrestrials that are fought at sea. The protagonist also loses his brother in combat during both movies. |
Tomorrow, when the War Began | 2010 | Red Dawn | 2012 | Both feature a group of combat-amateurish teens resisting against an invading army when their country is attacked. |
Upside Down | 2012 | Patema Inverted | 2013 | Both are a romance between characters of twin worlds, each with gravity opposite to the other.[36] |
The Other Son | 2012 | Like Father, Like Son | 2013 | Both films revolve around two young men who were switched at birth and raised by families from contrasting socioeconomic strata.[37] |
A Hijacking | 2012 | Captain Phillips | 2013 | Both are about a pirate attack on a cargo ship off the coast of Somalia.[38] |
Jobs | 2013 | Steve Jobs | 2015 | Both are Steve Jobs biopics.[39] |
Olympus Has Fallen | 2013 | White House Down | 2013 | Both are action films about terrorist attacks on the White House.[40] |
Oblivion | 2013 | After Earth | 2013 | Both films include a protagonist who must fight for survival on a post-apocalyptic Earth.[41] |
This Is the End | 2013 | The World's End | 2013 | [42] Also Rapture-Palooza (2013); all are apocalyptic comedy films. |
The Double | 2013 | Enemy | 2013 | Both are about a man who finds his physical doppelgänger in a seemingly totalitarian state.[43] |
The Machine | 2013 | Automata | 2014 | Also Ex Machina (2015);[2] All are science fiction films involving robots and artificial intelligence. |
Yves Saint Laurent | 2014 | Saint Laurent | 2014 | Both are Yves Saint Laurent biopics.[40] |
Hercules | 2014 | The Legend of Hercules | 2014 | Also Hercules Reborn (2014);[2] All are about Hercules. |
The Equalizer | 2014 | John Wick | 2014 | Both films involve a highly trained protagonist who seeks vengeance through killing.[44] |
Life After Beth | 2014 | Burying the Ex | 2014 | Both are romantic comedies involving zombies.[45] |
This Is Where I Leave You | 2014 | August: Osage County | 2014 | Both movies involve dysfunctional families reuniting after the death of the patriarch. |
Unfriended | 2014 | Friend Request | 2016 | Both are horror films with social media plots. |
Labyrinth of Lies | 2014 | The People vs. Fritz Bauer | 2015 | Also Die Akte General (2016). All are films depicting the effort which led to the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials by a group of prosecutors headed by Fritz Bauer. |
Moonwalkers | 2015 | Operation Avalanche | 2016 | Both are films based on Moon landing conspiracy theories.[46] |
Marguerite | 2015 | Florence Foster Jenkins | 2016 | Both films are based on Florence Foster Jenkins' life.[47] |
The Martian | 2015 | Approaching the Unknown | 2016 | Both are about a man who is stranded in space on a mission to Mars and has to figure out a way to survive.[48] |
Spectre | 2015 | Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | 2015 | Both films feature the protagonists chasing after secret criminal organisations through Austria, Morocco and London while their intelligence agencies are shutting down.[49][50] Paramount had to advance the release date of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation to avoid conflicting with Spectre.[51] |
Freaks of Nature | 2015 | Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse | 2015 | [52] Both are comedy horror films involving zombies. |
Coming Through the Rye | 2015 | Rebel in the Rye | 2017 | Both are films about J. D. Salinger.[53] |
Christine | 2016 | Kate Plays Christine | 2016 | Both are films about Christine Chubbuck, though Kate Plays Christine is a documentary about the acting process.[54] |
Captain Fantastic | 2016 | The Glass Castle | 2017 | Both are about a large family who lives secluded from the civilized world and deal with its moral ramifications.[55] |
Zootopia | 2016 | Sing | 2016 | Also Rock Dog (2016). All are animated movies set in modern cities populated by anthropomorphic animals. |
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | 2016 | Captain America: Civil War | 2016 | Both films deal with superheroes coming into conflict with each other. Both films involve a debate as to whether there should be oversight of the activities of superheroes in the aftermath of deadly incidents involving superheroes in African countries. Both films include a villain who schemes to pit superheroes against each other, and both films involve a bombing of a gathering of officials trying to resolve the debate. Both films also each reference a preceding film in their respective series involving a battle between superheroes and supervillains resulting in mass civilian casualties. |
The Jungle Book | 2016 | Mowgli | 2018 | Both are live-action, CGI-heavy adaptations of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, though the 2016 film is a remake of the 1967 animated musical film.[56] |
Anthropoid | 2016 | The Man with the Iron Heart | 2017 | Both films are about Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.[57] |
Churchill | 2017 | Darkest Hour | 2017 | Both are films about Winston Churchill. Also, the TV film Churchill's Secret (2016) is about Winston Churchill. |
Darkest Hour | 2017 | Dunkirk | 2017 | Both films are about planning of the evacuation of Dunkirk. |
Rough Night | 2017 | Girls Trip | 2017 | Both films are about a group of best friends, that take a trip that involve romance, party antics, adventure, and self discovery. |
U – July 22 | 2018 | 22 July | 2018 | Dramas based on the 2011 Utøya, Norway massacre. |
Love, Simon | 2018 | Alex Strangelove | 2018 | Both movies deal with the coming out stories of high school boys. They both include common tropes found in most high school movies- parties, drinking, drug experimentation, and unrequited love. |
Sink or Swim | 2018 | Swimming with Men | 2018 | Both are about a man who is facing a midlife crisis and joins an all-male synchronised swimming team.[58] |
Upgrade | 2018 | Venom | 2018 | Both are films about intelligent symbiotes, which are attached to and talk to their human host, giving the human enhanced powers and abilities, but gradually take control of the host. |
Smallfoot | 2018 | Abominable | 2019 | Both are Computer animated films about abominable snowmen making first contact with humans. The former is set in Alaska, while the latter in the Himalayas. |
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich | 2018 | The Happytime Murders | 2018 | Dark comedies featuring puppets.[59] |
Other meanings
One story from two perspectives
The term "twin films" has also been used for films produced by the same production company with the purpose of telling the same story from two different points of view:
- Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Françoise (1964) and Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc (1964) use the same cast to tell the same story from two different points of view.[60]
- The World War II films Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) are about the Battle of Iwo Jima, told from the perspective of United States Marines and Japanese soldiers.[61][62]
Multiple-language films
The term "twin films" has also been used for multiple-language versions of films:
References
- ↑ Jasper Rees. "Hooray for Bollywood", Evening Standard, 12 October 2001. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Fredrik Strage. "Tvillingfilmer resultatet av ängsliga filmbolag Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine.", Dagens Nyheter, 28 September 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2011. (In Swedish)
- 1 2 Henrik Arvidsson. "Först till kvarn i Drömfabriken" Dagens Nyheter, 11 July 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2011. (In Swedish)
- ↑ Rossio, Terry (2016). "Time Risk". Wordplay. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ↑ Collins, Andrew (January 1, 2000). "The Towering Inferno: Review". Empire Online.
- ↑ Rolf Potts. "The New B Movie" The New York Times Magazine, 7 October 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- 1 2 3 4 5 John Seabrook. "Tru, Two", The New Yorker, 25 September 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Henrik Arvidsson. "Tvillingfilmer vi minns", Dagens Nyheter'', 11 July 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2011. (In Swedish)
- 1 2 "11 Damn Near Identical Movies That Were Released at the Same Time", 11points.com, 13 March 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ↑ "Double Headers Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine.", mutantreviewers.com. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ↑ "Cinema: New Picture: Jun. 12, 1939". TIME. 12 June 1939. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ↑ "Cinema: Popeye the Magnificent". TIME. 28 March 1938. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ↑ Roger Ebert (17 July 1968). "You're a Big Boy Now". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ↑ "Cinema: This Property Is Condemned". TIME. 1 June 1970. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ↑ "Cinema: Andy Hardy Gets Busted". TIME. 6 July 1970. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ↑ Roger Ebert (14 July 1971). "The Grissom Gang". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
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