Twin films are films with the same or similar plots produced and released within a close proximity of time by two different

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

s. 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 Industrial espionage, also known as economic espionage, corporate spying, or corporate espionage, is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security. While political espionage is conducted or orchestrat ...

, the movement of staff between studios, or that the same

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

s are sent to several film studios before being accepted. Another possible explanation is if the films deal with topical issues, such as

volcanic eruptions A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

terrorist attacks The following is a list of terrorist incidents that were not carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are presented in List of assassinations and unsuccessful attempts at List o ...

, or significant anniversaries, resulting in

multiple discovery The concept of multiple discovery (also known as simultaneous invention) is the hypothesis that most scientific discoveries and inventions are made independently and more or less simultaneously by multiple scientists and inventors. The concept o ...

of the concept. While twin films are often big budget films, a mockbuster can be made with a low budget, with similar titles, aesthetics, or theme as blockbuster films. 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

Terry Rossio Terry Rossio (born July 2, 1960) is an American screenwriter and film producer. He co-wrote the films ''Aladdin'', '' The Mask of Zorro'', ''Shrek'', and all five of the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. For ''Shrek'', he was nominated for ...

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 Whitey Bulger biopic ''

Black Mass A Black Mass is a ceremony celebrated by various Satanic groups. It has allegedly existed for centuries in different forms, and the modern form is intentionally a sacrilegious and blasphemous parody of a Catholic Mass. In the 19th century the ...

'' led to the abandonment of a planned film about Bulger that would have been produced by

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...

and

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...

. The 2008 film '' Who Do You Love?'', about American record label

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock an ...

, had its widespread release delayed until 2010 to avoid competing with ''

Cadillac Records ''Cadillac Records'' is a 2008 American biographical drama film written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-compa ...

'', a higher-budget 2008 film on the same subject. In one case, for the 1974 film ''

The Towering Inferno ''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen, featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels '' The ...

'', 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 An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

) 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.
", mutantreviewers.com. Retrieved 22 June 2011.

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. *''

I Am Curious (Yellow) ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'' (, ) is a 1967 Swedish erotic drama film written and directed by Vilgot Sjöman, starring Sjöman and Lena Nyman. It is a companion film to 1968's '' I Am Curious (Blue)''; the two were initially intended to be one ...

'' (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 A social film is a type of Interactive cinema, interactive film that is presented through the lens of social media. A social film is distributed digitally and integrates with a social networking service, such as Facebook or YouTube. It combines fea ...

starring his lover Lena Nyman, a theatre student. ''Blue'' is a second version of ''Yellow'' (the colours taken from the Swedish flag), taking place before and after the first film. It has a more somber and bitterly satiric style, and a further explication of the framing narrative. * The World War II films '' Flags of Our Fathers'' (2006) and ''

Letters from Iwo Jima is a 2006 Japanese-language American war film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion ...

'' (2006) are about the

Battle of Iwo Jima The was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, desi ...

, 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 version A multiple-language version film (often abbreviated to MLV) or foreign language version is a film, especially from the early talkie era, produced in several different languages for international markets. To offset the marketing restrictions of ma ...

s of films: * '' Raavan'' (2010) and '' Raavanan'' (2010) use similar casts filming the scenes in both

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

.
Rai calls twin films tough challenge
, LJWorld.com, 9 October 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2011.

References