Twin films are films with the same, or very similar, plot produced or released at the same time in two different film studios. The phenomenon can result from two or more production companies investing in similar scripts around the same time, resulting in a race to distribute the films to audiences. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
Video Twin films
Examples
Noted examples of twin films are included in this list:
Maps Twin films
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.
- 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.
Multiple-language films
The term "twin films" has also been used for multiple-language versions of films:
- Raavan (2010) and Raavanan (2010) use similar casts filming the scenes in both Hindi and Tamil.
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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