​You probably know that Hollywood has the habit of making two similar films in a year. But did you know that there is an actual term for it? That’s right, “Twin Films” is even a Wikipedia entry.

These movies have virtually identical plots and are usually released within months of each other. With so many scripts being shopped around Hollywood on a constant basis, you would think that there would be more original ideas and these “Twin Films” wouldn’t happen as often.

It’s clear, though, that when it comes to “Twin Films” there is always one film that comes out on top and usually by a large margin.! If you don’t believe me, just check out the box office earnings for these films that came out the same year and told the same damn story!


THE EQUALIZER | JOHN WICK — 2014
Sony / Lionsgate
 
The Equalizer Box Office: $101,530,738
John Wick Box Office: $43,037,835
 
The films have completely different types of leading men: Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves. But at their heart, these films have identical plots. Both movies focus on men trying to leave their dark, pasts behind, but (of course) tragic events draw them back into the life. (Okay so not the most original plot lines.) The Equalizer made a bit more money but surprising John Wick has slowly gained a huge following and both films have spawned an extremely popular franchises


OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN | WHITE HOUSE DOWN — 2013
FilmDistrict / Sony
 
Olympus Has Fallen Box Office: $98,925,640
White House Down Box Office: $73,103,784
 
When you watch the trailers for these two films it’s almost impossible to tell them apart. Disgraced men save the President while kicking some bad guy ass. The only difference is the actors they put in each film. Channing Tatum in White House Down and Gerard Butler in Olympus Has Fallen. Or is it the other way around? Who knows! Both films performed fairly well, but Olympus Has Fallen clearly got the edge, making slightly more money and a sequel. 

NO STRINGS ATTACHED | FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS — 2011
Paramount / Sony
 
No Strings Attached Box Office: $70,662,220
Friends With Benefits Box Office: $55,802,754
 
Both movies are about a man and a woman who get sick of relationships and decide to get into a “friends with benefits” relationship and keep things strictly sexual. Obviously in typical Hollywood romance style, it doesn’t work out and they end up falling for each other in each film. Aside from the location, the jobs, and a few lines here and there, they are the exact same movie. Seriously. You could replace Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman and nobody would know the difference. Probably not even the directors.

MEGAMIND | DESPICABLE ME — 2010
Paramount / Universal
 
Megamind Box Office: $148,415,853
Despicable Me Box Office: $251,513,985
 
There are some fundamental differences between these two films but they’re both about one simple thing: a bad guy becoming a good guy. The only big difference is how each villain turns themselves around and what their motivation is. Though both films made a good amount of money, it’s Despicable Me that has spawned an insane amount of sequels and spin-offs and given the world the popular and adorable minions!
 
THE PRESTIGE | THE ILLUSIONIST — 2006
Buena Vista / Yari Film Group
 
The Prestige Box Office: $53,089,891
The Illusionist Box Office: $39,868,642
The two films both follow the lives of late Nineteenth Century magicians. The Christian Bale fronted film not only made more money but is undoubtedly the one people look back upon fondly whereas no one really remembers The Illusionist exists. While the plots differed a bit, it turns out audiences could only deal with one magical film that year.


ARMAGEDDON | DEEP IMPACT — 1998
Twin Films  Movies With Basically The Same Plot Released In The Same Year government
 
Armageddon Box Office: $201,578,182
Deep Impact Box Office: $140,464,664
 
Both films tell the story of a doomed earth with a deadly asteroid heading straight for it. The big difference? Everyone remembers Armageddon, especially for Aerosmith’s hit song “I Don’t’ want To Miss A Thing.” There were minor differences but at their core, the two films were about the same exact thing. Clearly, fans responded to their fave telling of the story at the box office!
 
 
ANTZ | A BUG’S LIFE — 1998
DreamWorks / Buena Vista
 
Antz Box Office: $90,757,863
A Bug’s Life Box Office: $162,798,565

Both films follow the journey of an ant to save his colony from destruction from some villainous presence. There are some fundamental differences, though, between the two films. Antz is a Woody Allen film and gets a little intense for a kids film. A Bug’s Life, on the other hand, is a Disney-Pixar film with a bit of a lighter feel and bunch of different types of fun bugs. The fight that erupted between the two studios was epic which was documented in the book “The Men Who Would Be King”. The clear winner here was A Bug’s Life, which netted way more money and a Oscar nomination.
 

JEZEBEL | GONE WITH THE WIND — 1939 & 1939
Warner Bros./Loews Inc.
 
Jezebel Box Office: No box office data
Gone With The Wind Box Office: $198,676,459
This just goes to show that the “Twin Film” phenomenon is not a new invention. Gone With the Wind is, without a doubt, the highest grossing film of all time if you adjust for inflation. For the ‘30s it did insane numbers, numbers that are higher than many movies today.That movie and Jezebel both told stories about rebellious southern women during the Civil War era and were intentionally similar. After Bette Davis lost out for the main role on “Gone With the Wind,” producers created Jezebel just for her. Too bad for Davis, her film was completely overshadowed by the beloved Gone With the Wind and we’re going to be honest, we didn’t even know Jezebel existed because its twin is such a classic. 

Alibaba Pictures, the film production arm of Alibaba Group, is working to tokenize distribution rights for some of its new film projects, including ‘Striding Into The Wind’. The company has signed an agreement with decentralized entertainment company Breaker to distribute the film overseas via its blockchain platform, Ethereum.

Alibaba has had mixed results producing films, and in an effort to maximize profits, Alibaba Pictures is distributing ‘Striding Into The Wind’’’ beyond China’s borders. To facilitate this, Alibaba Pictures is utilizing blockchain to tokenize the distribution rights of the film.

How Will Blockchain Change the Global Film Industry? 
The film industry is just one of many, which stands to be turned on its head through the infusion of blockchain technology. Primarily, the effects will be in the way films are financed. Typically, a relatively low number of conglomerates can finance the big blockbuster films, as it is an expensive endeavour that typically costs in the millions. With special effects and movie star’s salaries, it not unreasonable for a film to cost over a hundred million dollars just to produce. This results in a restrictive environment for smaller projects. Understandably, film financers are looking for a return on their investment in an industry that may seem like gambling to many.

Although it’s an astonishing accomplishment, we really shouldn’t be surprised that Disney+, the new streaming service hit 10 million subscribers only a day after the streaming service launched, sending shares soaring in spite of technical glitches at roll-out.
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By comparison, Netflix has 60 million U.S. subscribers and 158 million globally. So does that mean Netflix is looking over its shoulder? They are probably nervous since Disney is home to Marvel, Star Wars and classic animated films like Cinderella, Lion King, and Toy Story. But Disney is not going to rest on its laurels. They have dozens of new series out of the gate.

In April the company said it plans to reach 60 million to 90 million Disney+ subscribers globally by 2024. Despite reports of technical glitches, many customers signed up with no problem, and viewers were buzzing about 'The Mandalorian,' making it a top trending topic on Twitter as Viewers were trying to decipher the meaning of a surprise twist at the end of the first episode.  ‘The Mandalorian’ is set in the Star Wars universe and is about a bounty hunter’s adventures in the outer galaxies, far from the New Republic’s authority. 

Disney is continuing its mining of old properties for live-action films as the studio has begun development on a new adaptation of the popular 1980s cartoon Inspector Gadget.
The film is being produced by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, the team behind this year’s box office smash Aladdin and is being scripted by Saturday Night Live writers Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell.

The cartoon followed the adventures of its wacky protagonist, a bionic detective who has access to an array of gadgets in his body, only to struggle to command control of them as he bumbles his way through every case. His frequent nemesis was the mysterious Dr. Claw and the evil organization M.A.D. while being assisted by his niece Penny and the family dog Brain. The cartoon was clearly a spoof of both Inspector Clouseau and James Bond.

​If you have seen the trailer for the new Joker film starring Joaquin Phoenix, you know it's not your average comic book film with the good guy swooping in to save the world. It is an in-depth character study about a depressed, lonely man who has trouble relating to people, especially to the women in his life who he dearly wants to impress. 
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The Joker has always been one of DC Comics most favourite villains, having been played multiple times by some of Hollywood's most legendary actors.  Jack Nicholson played him in the 90s. Mark Hamill voiced him in the illustrated version. Health Ledger took him to a whole new level in the Christopher Nolan Batman series. How will Joaquin Phoenix's version stack up against all these past performances? Well, the film is all the buzz at this years' Toronto International Film Festival and there is talk that Phoenix will earn an Oscar nomination. 

In the past, the Joker had no origin story.  According to some versions, Joker is a failed clown who just had a bad run of things but he really has no history. Director Todd Phillips origin movie attempts to correct this but this has led to quite a diverse opinion and even controversy on social media.

With the Toronto Film Festival wrapping up, the film industry is looking at ramping up their Oscar campaigns in the industry's biggest night of the year.  As hardcore film buff knows, it takes a lot of hard work to win an Oscar. However, what you may not know is that it also takes an incredible amount of money -- and I mean a LOT of money -- to run one of these campaigns. In fact, sometimes, the price of winning is more than a film's budget.
 
How Much Does It Cost To Win A Oscar?
 Securing an Academy Award isn't cheap. The best picture, best director, best actor and actress, and best support actor and actress are the five most prestigious categories and can add a significant boost to their box office draw.  Studios usually spend anywhere between $3 million and $10 million to try to secure votes for Best Picture – and that’s just one category. That’s a lot of money for a statue.
 
Why Does It Cost So Much?
In the perfect world, an Oscar-nominated movie would win an Academy Award based solely on its artistic merit. But of course, human psychology comes into play and film studios aren't afraid to go out to promote their films and feed large egos. 
Some estimates for the total amount Hollywood studios spends on Oscar campaigns range between $100 million right up to $500 million in a single year.  That's a lot of money, you might say, so how is it spent?
 

​By now, I'm sure that you've seen the latest Star Wars trailer, Rise of Skywalker. It starts off by recapping the saga that started all the way back in 1977 (as if you needed a recap but it was cool and nostalgic anyways.)

While the JJ Abrams Star War films have satisfied an itch that needed scratching, it has not lived up to the insane hype. It's not an easy task but most fans were expecting a little more from the films. A more original plot, better character development and more action. However, having said all that, with the final installment insight, it's hard not to be excited after seeing the trailer. There is so much to discuss, so much that is unknown but the only real question fans should be asking is does the final film live up to expectations? Will it compensate for all that is missing in the first two fims?
The Star Wars 9 trailer is teasing the return of an old villain. How exactly Emperor Palpatine is back, considering he was presumably killed in Return of the Jedi, and whether he will face off against Rey, remains to be seen. A rumour is circling the internet that Palpatine transfers his soul to Darth Vader's helmet. While many fans might dismiss this rumour, there is some Star Wars lore that back ups the theory. 

 Alongside that, the fans are wondering how the franchise will send off Princess Leia. Plus, there's the small matter of new characters appearing alongside popular characters like Luke and C-3PO.
Thanks to Lucasfilm wrapping the movie in a cloud of mystery, there's plenty to speculate about, too. The most recent trailer adds more backstory to the previous teaser and more reveal about the actual storyline, which is to be expected. C3PO with sinister red eyes, epic space battles, yes, and double-edged lightsabers add to the excitement and intrigue. We also see Kylo Ren and Rey fighting the fight of light and dark on what appears to be a sinking Imperial battleship. That will be cool. For the rest, we'll have to wait until closer to that December 20th launch date.

While this won't be the last Star Wars film, it will probably be the last that has a majority of our favourite characters playing major roles. And because that is the case, it is an important milestone in the Star Wars films.By now, I'm sure that you've seen the latest Star Wars trailer, Rise of Skywalker. It starts off by recapping the saga that started all the way back in 1977 (as if you needed a recap but it was cool and nostalgic anyways.)

While the JJ Abrams Star War films have satisfied an itch that needed scratching, it has definitely not lived up to the insane hype. It's not an easy task but most fans were expecting a little more from the films. A more original plot, better character development and more action. However, having said all that, with the final installment insight, it's hard not to be excited after seeing the trailer. There is so much to discuss, so much that is unknown but the only real question fans should be asking is does the final film live up to expectations? Will it compensate for all that is missing in the first two films?

The Star Wars 9 trailer is teasing the return of an old villain. How exactly Emperor Palpatine is back, considering he was presumably killed in Return of the Jedi, and whether he will face off against Rey, remains to be seen.

 Alongside that, the fans are wondering how the franchise will send off Princess Leia. Plus, there's the small matter of new characters appearing alongside popular characters like Luke and C-3PO.
Thanks to Lucasfilm wrapping the movie in a cloud of mystery, there's plenty to speculate about, too. The most recent trailer adds more backstory to the previous teaser and more reveal about the actual storyline, which is to be expected. C3PO with sinister red eyes, epic space battles, yes, and double-edged lightsabers add to the excitement and intrigue. We also see Kylo Ren and Rey fighting the fight of light and dark on what appears to be a sinking Imperial battleship. That will be cool. For the rest, we'll have to wait until closer to that December 20th launch date.

While this won't be the last Star Wars film, it will probably be the last that has a majority of our favourite characters playing major roles. And because that is the case, it is an important milestone in the Star Wars films.

Keanu Reeves star keeps rising. For someone who doesn’t seem much like your typical action star, he is fresh off the hit franchise John Wick which has green lit the fourth Matrix film. The third John Wicks movie made more than $320m worldwide.

Lana Wachowski, who created the franchise with her sister Lilly, will also return as director, along with Carrie-Ann Moss. The new script is co-written by Wachowski with sci-fi novelists Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell who wrote Cloud Atlas which was also made into a Wachowski film.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first Matrix film, which told the story of computer hacker Neo and his discovery  the world was in fact a computer generated reality. It was a surprise hit, making more than $460 million worldwide and launching two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. The franchise which set a new bar in special effects made more than $1.6 billion. 

Rumours of a new film have been circulating since 2017, with Michael B Jordan tapped as the lead. Plot details are currently unknown, as is how the role of Morpheus will be handled, originally played by Laurence Fishburne. Some sources say the role may be recast for a younger actor.

Since the original trilogy, the Wachowskis have had a number of commercial disappointments, including Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending.  Their Netflix show Sense8 was cancelled after just two seasons

So how will Matrix 4 fair with the hardcore fans? If we look at other popular franchises such as Diehard, Toy Story, Rambo, and Indian Jones, some of them did well at the box office, but most of the fans felt they were lackluster attempts at best. By the fourth film the magic is gone. While Matrx Reloaded and Matrix Revolution did alright at the box office, for the fans they were generally disappointed. Matrix entered into popular culture and still 20 years later it's still referenced both on television and in casual conversation -- a rarity for any film. Why mess with a good thing? 
 

These days, you can’t just sit back and wait for the network to do all the marketing and sales for you. The landscape is just too competitive with too many shows out there jostling for attention. You need to take matters into your own hands as producer Anders Tangen did with his satire ‘Norsemen’.

Knowing it would get lost in the hours upon hours of programming, Tangen launched his own marketing campaign. When Tangen sold Norsemen to Netflix a couple years ago, he knew he had a winning show. It is a period comedy about Vikings but with modern day issues – first world problems, if you will. One chieftain apologizes for his "fear-based leadership style," another hires a slave as his "creative director"

Although the show was well received by audiences, there was a problem. With so many shows on Netflix, its U.S. service alone has 1,700-plus TV series,  how would a Norwegian Viking comedy get noticed, especially when Netflix doesn't traditionally provide a marketing push for acquisitions?

The key to landing on Netflix's radar, Tangen knew, would be to hack the recommendation algorithm so it would appear as a suggested viewing for people searching for new shows to watch. The idea was to get enough people interested in the show early and then get Netflix's advanced recommended engine to leverage that early momentum.

Netflix had given Tangen a date for the premiere of Norsemen in its English-language territories. Three weeks before launch, he set up a Facebook advertising campaign, paying for targeted posts and Facebook promotions. The post were fairly straightforward — most included one of six 20- to 25-second clips of the show and a link, either to the show's webpage or to media coverage.
They used A/B testing — showing two versions of a campaign to different audiences and selecting the most successful — to fine-tune. The U.S. campaign cost around $18,500, which Tangen and his production partners put up themselves. Tangen focused the initial campaign in and around major U.S. cities including L.A., New York, Miami, Chicago with additional pushes in three states with large ethnic Norwegian populations. He broke potential Norsemen fans down into seven separate target groups, with each getting its own tailored Facebook campaign.

In just a month, the Norsemen campaign reached 5.5 million Facebook users, generating 2 million video views and some 6,000 followers for the show. Netflix noticed and its algorithm  started to kick in. Fans who had become aware of the show through Tangen's campaign began recommending it to their friends. Norsemen started appearing on Netflix's recommendation list.  Tangen invested a further $15,000 to promote the show on Facebook worldwide, using what he had learned during the initial U.S. campaign.

When Norsemen came up for a season two renewal, Netflix upped its commitment, making the show a "Netflix Original," meaning more in-house marketing. Season 3 is currently in production and will go out on Netflix worldwide next year. While it might take awhile for Tangen and his producers to recoup their $33,000 back, but it has certainly helped Norsemen and Tangen’s career.
 
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