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Twin films are films with the same or similar plots produced and released within a close proximity of time by two different .Jasper Rees. " Hooray for Bollywood", , 12 October 2001. Retrieved 23 June 2011. The phenomenon can result from two or more production companies investing in similar scripts at the same time, resulting in a race to distribute the films to audiences.Fredrik Strage. " Tvillingfilmer resultatet av ängsliga filmbolag ", , 28 September 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2011. (In Swedish)Henrik Arvidsson. " Först till kvarn i Drömfabriken" , 11 July 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2011. (In Swedish) Some attribute twin films to industrial espionage, the movement of staff between studios, or that the same 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.

While twin films are often big budget films, a can be made with a low budget, with similar titles, aesthetics, or theme as blockbuster films.Rolf Potts. " The New B Movie" The New York Times Magazine, 7 October 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2009. Mockbusters are usually given more limited release and marketing, intending to take advantage of the public interest in the topic driven by the major film.


Avoiding twin films
Screenwriter notes that there are always film projects with similar subjects being developed in multiple studios, and that usually only one of them makes it into production in a given period of time, and therefore twin films are better regarded as exceptions to this tendency. For example, the release of the 2015 biopic Black Mass led to the abandonment of a planned film about Bulger that would have been produced by and .

The 2008 film Who Do You Love?, about American record label , had its widespread release delayed until 2010 to avoid competing with , a higher-budget 2008 film on the same subject.

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 () film.


Notable examples
Notable examples of twin films are included in this list:Henrik Arvidsson. " Tvillingfilmer vi minns", , 11 July 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2011. (In Swedish)" 11 Damn Near Identical Movies That Were Released at the Same Time", 11points.com, 13 March 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2011." Double Headers ", mutantreviewers.com. Retrieved 22 June 2011.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde1920Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde1920Based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)
(2025). 9781936168682, Midnight Marquee Press.
1930Africa Speaks!1930Both exploitation films about an expedition in the .
(2025). 9780786444472, McFarland. .
Dishonored1931Mata Hari1931Both films are about female spies. MGM studios, alarmed by the competition that the Sternberg-Dietrich phenomena posed to star , responded with the copycat Mata Hari the same year.Chicago Film Society, 2011
Riche, 2008
Sarris, 1966. p. 32
The Black Cat1934Maniac1934Both are loose adaptations of The Black Cat.
Young Mr. Lincoln1939Abe Lincoln in Illinois1940Both are about .
Alice au pays des Merveilles1949Alice in Wonderland1951Both are adaptations of 's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Walt Disney Company would sue the French film's distributors to prevent release of the British version in the U.S., and the case was extensively covered in Time magazine. The company that released the British version accused Disney of trying to exploit their film by releasing its version at virtually the same time.
Sign of the Pagan1954Attila1954Both films about Attila and his invasion of the Western Roman Empire; a contemporary review in The New York Times writes, "Attila the Hun, quite ignored by moviemakers up to now, is about to step into the limelight in two new films."
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines1965The Great Race1965Both are slapstick films about a race in the early 1900s, inspired by the success of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).
(2022). 9781476687230, McFarland. .
(2021). 9780520976610, Univ of California Press. .
The films were released two weeks apart.
You're a Big Boy Now19661967Also Benjamin (1968). All are coming-of-age about a young man being pursued by an older woman.
Leo the Last19701970Both deal with issues of class and race and feature an upper-class man who moves into a lower-class black neighborhood and gets involved with the residents.
The Strawberry Statement19701970Also The Revolutionary and R. P. M. (1970). All are dramas about campus revolt.
1970The Grissom Gang1971Both based on the life story of .
Godspell1973Jesus Christ Superstar1973Both adaptations of 1971 Broadway musicals based on the life of .
The Killing of Angel Street1981Heatwave1982Both were loosely based on the disappearance of Australian anti-development activist .
19831984Both are well-received old-school hip hop films, focusing on all four pillars of hip hop culture.
19861986Both are films about fighter pilots.
Platoon1986Full Metal Jacket1987Also (1987) and 84C MoPic (1989). All are bleak, violent and unglamorized depictions of the . John Irvin interview, The Flashback Files
K-91989Turner & Hooch1989Both are buddy cop-dog films about a police officer who gets a dog for a partner.
1989Leviathan1989Also , The Evil Below, Lords of the Deep (1989) and The Rift (1990); all are underwater thrillers involving explorers discovering strange new (and in most of the movies hostile) creatures in the ocean.
19891990Both are biopics of James Bond creator .
King of New York1990New Jack City1990Both portray gang culture in New York City and were released within 6 months of each other near the end of 1990.
19921992Both films deal with Columbus' discovery of the New World. These films were released to commemorate the 500th anniversary of this discovery. A comedic version of the discovery was also released in 1992 with Carry on Columbus.
1992Blood In Blood Out1993Both films depict gang violence in the Mexican-American community in California. At one point, American Me star and director Edward James Olmos was offered to star in and direct Blood In Blood Out, but passed on the film due to creative differences. is credited as a co-writer on both films.
Carnosaur1993Jurassic Park1993Both are action adventure films involving the genetic recreation of dinosaurs or prehistoric animals. Both are also based on books.
Groundhog Day19931993Both are about an individual stuck in a 24 hour time loop where the protagonist wakes every morning on the same day and experiences the events of that day over and over until they discover how to break the cycle. 12:01 is based on a previously made into .
1993Natural Born Killers1994Also 1993 mini-series Murder in the Heartland. All are road movies about a couple engaging in multi-state and all directly or loosely based on real murderer Charles Starkweather. Both films have as a main character.
Tombstone1993Wyatt Earp1994Both are biopics.
Gordy1994Babe1995Both are starring piglets.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert1994To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar1995Both have the plot of going on a road trip across their country (in one case Australia, in the other, the United States), in a journey of self-discovery.
1995Rob Roy1995Also The Bruce (1996); all are adventure/war biopics set in Scotland.
1995Striptease1996Also Stripteaser (1996). All three are featuring a lead character involved in the profession.Gary Dudak. " Twin Movies: A History of Two Similar Films Coming Out at the Same Time" Mandatory, 14 April 2014
Powder1995Phenomenon1996Both tell the story of a man with powers that make him an outcast in a small town. Both films were also released by Disney's Buena Vista Pictures.
Tornado!1996Twister1996Also Night of the Twisters (1996). All deal with tornado chasers in their line of work who must track down a large tornado.
The Arrival1996Contact1997Both are in which the main character is a that takes part in a conspiracy involving making first contact with an alien race.
Executive Decision1996Air Force One1997Both are films about hijacking a plane and a rescue team saving the passengers and defeating the terrorists. (1997) also has a similar concept, though involving convicts.
Dante's Peak1997Volcano1997Also (1997). All three are disaster films centered around volcanic eruptions.
1997Seven Years in Tibet1997Both are fact-based dramas set in mid-20th century , with the 14th Dalai Lama as a main character.
The House of Yes1997The Myth of Fingerprints1997Also The Ice Storm (1997). All three films center around dysfunctional families gathering for .
Murder at 16001997Absolute Power1997Both films center around a Washington, D.C. murder investigation involving the President/at the .
1998A Bug's Life1998Both 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.
1998Dead Man On Campus1998Both are thrillers where two college roommates try to get roommate to commit suicide in order to get a passing grade. Both are also based on the same .
Deep Impact1998Armageddon1998Also (1997), Asteroid (1997), Judgment Day (1998), and (1998). All are global catastrophic risk centered around an impending that threatens to end most or all life on Earth.
Saving Private Ryan1998The Thin Red Line1998Also Life Is Beautiful (1997). All are dramas about World War II.
1998Run Lola Run1998Both films tell the same story of a woman multiple times, changing a minor detail at the beginning and depicting how that change drastically affects the outcome.
541998Last Days of Disco1998Both films are set against the backdrop of the waning of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Truman Show19981999Also Pleasantville (1998). All are films in which a person or a large group of people's lives are broadcast on TV.
Overnight Delivery1998Road Trip2000Both are where a college student believes his girlfriend, attending another college, is cheating, and sends nasty letter. He then discovers that she's not cheating, and must embarks on a road trip to her campus recover the package before she gets it., while being joined by his friends.
1999The Thirteenth Floor1999Also (1999) and Dark City (1998); all are science fiction films involving a false reality, and the theme of whether the world is real or an illusion.
Anywhere But Here1999Tumbleweeds1999Both films concern a mother-daughter pair who drive across the country to settle in California.
Entrapment1999The Thomas Crown Affair1999Both are focused on the relationship between an attractive female insurance investigator and a male thief who steals an expensive painting by a famous artist.
End of Days1999Stigmata1999Also Lost Souls (2000); all are supernatural religious horror films involving the Catholic Church. Both End of Days and Stigmata star as a main character. Both End of Days and Lost Souls involve the theme of Satan taking possession of a man's body.
10 Things I Hate About You1999Hamlet2000Also O (2001); All are modern-day adaptations of William Shakespeare plays, featuring as the female lead.
2000Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth2000Both are horror movie featuring a killer wearing a Ghostface mask; Scary Movie additionally had the working title Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween.
20002000Both are Italian are about .
Mission to Mars2000Red Planet2000Also Blood Red Planet (2000) and Ghosts of Mars (2001). All are adventure films about expeditions to . However, Ghosts of Mars is a horror film.
Wonder Boys2000Finding Forrester2000Both are films involving a writer and his friendship with a student.
Bring It On2000Sugar & Spice2001Both films are comedies about high school cheerleading squads. Sugar & Spice star was the second choice to play Bring It On character Torrance Shipman, prior to being cast in the role, after previously turning it down. Also, according to Bring It On star , she and many of her Bring It On co-stars also auditioned for Sugar & Spice.
U-5712000Enigma2001Both are fictional thrillers set in World War II about the Germans' .
The Score2001Heist2001Both are crime thriller films involving a major robbery.
2004First Daughter2004Both are films about the rebellious daughter of the President of the United States.
Red Eye20052005Both are set on airplanes.
Capote2005Infamous2006Both are drama films about and the writing of In Cold Blood. The confluence of the two films led to an incident in 2003 when Infamous writer-director called producer to announce that his script had been finished, and Ray responded "I know, I've got it on my desk!" before realizing that he actually had the screenplay to Capote.John Seabrook. " Tru, Two", The New Yorker, 25 September 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
The Zodiac2005Zodiac2007Also Curse of the Zodiac (2007); All are films based on the story of the .
Zzyzx20062006Both are thrillers about people trying to hide a dead body on Zzyzx Road in California.Faraci, Devin. (January 10, 2007) Chud.com Crisis on infinite Zyzzyx roads.
United 932006Flight 932006Both are dramas about United Airlines Flight 93.
The Prestige2006The Illusionist2006Both are films about 19th-century magicians.
2006Surf's Up2007Both are computer-animated comedy films about penguins.
This Christmas2007Nothing Like The Holidays2008Both , set in Chicago, revolve around extended families celebrate the Christmas holiday season.
2008Echelon Conspiracy2009Both 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.
Repo! The Genetic Opera20082010Set in a dystopian future, both films are about one or more corporate-employed "repo men" who fatally repossess artificial organs when patients default on their payments.
Observe and Report20092009Both are comedy films about an overweight mall cop.
Gamer2009Surrogates2009Also Avatar (2009); Science fiction films in which people control physical remotely-operated bodies.
Despicable Me20102010Both are computer-animated films featuring a stereotypical as the protagonist.
Skyline20102011Both are alien invasion movies that primarily take place in . , 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.
No Strings Attached2011Friends with Benefits2011Both 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 Friends with Benefits, but had to be renamed due to a conflict with the other film.
Yann Samuell's War of the Buttons2011Christophe Barratier's War of the Buttons2011Both 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 while the second was set in World War II.
The Raid20112012Both films deal with a law enforcement officer infiltrating a tall residential building in pursuit of a crime lord, wherein the crime lord attempts to turn the residents against the officer.
Extraterrestrial2011Seeking a Friend for the End of the World2012Also (2011) and Melancholia (2011). All are apocalyptic science fiction films.
Quartet2012A Late Quartet2012Both are about the members of a quartet facing old age.
Mirror Mirror2012Snow White and the Huntsman2012Both are loose adaptations of the fairy tale . Also the Spanish 2012 film adapts Snow White, using black-and-white silent cinematography like the 2012 French film The Artist.
Upside Down20122013Both are a romance between characters of twin worlds, each with gravity opposite to the other.
The Other Son2012Like Father, Like Son2013Both films revolve around two young men who were switched at birth and raised by families from contrasting socioeconomic strata.
2012Captain Phillips2013Both are about a pirate attack on a cargo ship off the coast of Somalia.
Jobs2013Steve Jobs2015Both are biopics.
Olympus Has Fallen2013White House Down2013Both are action films about terrorist attacks on the .Roger Wilson. " Tvillingfilmer", Godmorgon, världen!, P1, 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014. (In Swedish)
Oblivion20132013Both films include a protagonist who must fight for survival on a post-apocalyptic Earth.
This Is the End2013The World's End2013Also (2013); all are apocalyptic comedy films. Both This Is the End and Rapture-Palooza star Craig Robinson as a main character.
The Double2013Enemy2013Both are about a man who finds his physical doppelgänger in a seemingly totalitarian state.
Yves Saint Laurent2014Saint Laurent2014Both are Yves Saint Laurent biopics.
The Equalizer2014John Wick2014Both films involve a highly trained protagonist who seeks vengeance through killing.
Life After Beth2014Burying the Ex2014Also Warm Bodies (2013). All three are romantic comedies involving zombies.
Moonwalkers2015Operation Avalanche2016Both are films based on Moon landing conspiracy theories.
The Beauty Inside2015Every Day2018Both are a romance between a woman and a spirit who wakes up every day in a different body.
Marguerite2015Florence Foster Jenkins2016Both films are based on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins.
The Martian2015Approaching the Unknown2016Also Forsaken (2018). Both are about a man who is stranded in space on a mission to Mars and has to figure out a way to survive.
Spectre20152015Both films feature the protagonists chasing after secret criminal organisations through Austria, Morocco and London while their intelligence agencies are shutting down. Paramount had to advance the release date of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation to avoid conflicting with Spectre. Also, .
Other People20162016Both are about a male writer living in New York City who returns to his hometown for his mother dying of cancer.
Christine2016Kate Plays Christine2016Both are films about Christine Chubbuck, though Kate Plays Christine is a documentary about the acting process.
Patriots Day2016Stronger2017Both films revolve around the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and their aftermath.
Captain Fantastic2016The Glass Castle2017Both are about a large family who lives secluded from the civilized world and deal with its moral ramifications.
Anthropoid2016The Man with the Iron Heart2017Both films are about Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of -Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.
The Jungle Book20162018Both are live-action, CGI-heavy adaptations of 's The Jungle Book, though the 2016 film is a remake of the 1967 animated musical film.
Crowhurst20172018Both films are about 's ill-fated entry in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, a non-stop round-the-world sailing competition. Uniquely, these films not only have an identical subject, but were also distributed by the same studio, namely : according to the head of , Danny Perkins, the company bought the low-budget production Crowhurst "so we could control it".
Sink or Swim2018Swimming with Men2018Both are about a man who is facing a and joins an all-male synchronised swimming team.
2018The Happytime Murders2018Both are dark comedies featuring puppets.
Beautiful Boy2018Ben Is Back2018Both are melodramas about a family with a teenage son facing a drug addiction.
2018Mid90s2018Both are coming of age stories about a group of skateboarding teenagers played by inexperienced actors who skateboard in real life. In both films, the primary character is the newest member of the group and has a contentious relationship with their single mother.
Widows2018The Kitchen2019Both are about the law-abiding wives of criminals who take up their husbands' criminal plans when they are gone.
20182020Both films revolve around lesbians who plan to to their conservative families during the holidays, only to be confronted by their ex-boyfriends; Lez Bomb is set on while Happiest Season takes place on .
2019Fyre2019Both are documentaries about the .
The Haunting of Sharon Tate2019Once Upon a Time in Hollywood2019Both are films about and her murder. Although the former is a film that dramatizes the events, the latter takes place in an alternate universe where the murder did not take place.
The King's Letters20192019Both are about King Sejong the Great and his patronage of scholarship.
2019Bala2019Both movies are about men facing premature baldness, hence becoming a subject of social ridicule and facing problems finding a spouse.
The Curse of La Llorona2019La Llorona2019Both films are about the legend of .
20202022Both are dramatizations of the case of , a serial killer who targeted sex workers in Iran.
Pinocchio2022Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio2022Also (2022) and Pinocchio and the Water of Life (2023) . All films are based on The Adventures of Pinocchio. Three of the films— Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, Pinocchio: A True Story, and The Adventures of Pinocchio—star .
2022The Mean One2022Also Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022). All are films about a murderous figure.
Elvis2022Priscilla2023Both are films about or revolve around .
The Beast in the Jungle2023The Beast2023Both are French adaptations of the novella The Beast in the Jungle.
The Covenant2023Kandahar2023Also Warhorse One. All films are set in a -controlled Afghanistan.
The Great Escaper2023The Last Rifleman2023Based on the true story of Bernard Jordan, both are films about an elderly World War II veteran who escapes his in order to attend a milestone anniversary commemorations of the Normandy landings in France.
Reality2023Winner2024Both are films about American whistleblower .
2023The Mouse Trap2024Also (2025). All three are slasher films based on famous works only recently made part of the public domain – Bambi, Winnie-the-Pooh, and the design of Mickey Mouse, respectively.
The Pope's Exorcist2023The Exorcism2024Both films star , in which he plays some form of exorcist.
20232024Both films are about a female high school student who is accidentally transported back in time and must unmask an unidentified serial killer who terrorized their town and prevent the murder of a female relative who is in high school at the time.
The First Omen2024Immaculate2024Both films are about young American nuns who travel to Rome, Italy, and become unexpectedly pregnant with what turns out to be a demon fetus/the antichrist.
An Unfinished Film2024Caught by the Tides2024Both are Chinese films set during the COVID-19 pandemic that use footage of the same actors filmed by the director in the 2000s and 2010s.
Piece by Piece2024Better Man2024Both movies are musical biopics about artists with the surname Williams depicted in an unorthodox fashion: Piece by Piece shows Pharrell Williams' life through , while Better Man depicts as a CGI .


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:
  • (1964) and (1964) use the same cast to tell the same story from two different points of view.Bosley Crowther. " My Days with Jean Marc Screen: Participants Testily to a Broken Marriage:Twin Films by Cayatte at Two Theaters Charrier and Miss Nat Star as Couple", New York Times, 27 October 1964. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  • I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) and I Am Curious (Blue) (1968) are a pair of Swedish drama films, both telling the story of director Vilgot Sjöman who plans to make a social film starring his lover , a theatre student.Björkman, S. (1977:38). Film in Sweden : the new directors. United Kingdom: Tantivy Press. Blue is a second version of Yellow (the colours taken from the ), taking place before and after the first film. It has a more somber and bitterly style, and a further explication of the framing narrative.
  • 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.
  • The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2014) was a trio of films following Conor Ludlow and Eleanor Rigby, a young married couple living in New York. Him looks at their relationship from Conor's angle, while Her follows Eleanor's. Them has the two twin films edited into a linear story.


Multiple-language films
The term "twin films" has also been used for multiple-language versions of films:


See also

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