two disaster films where the worlds both need saving from comets and asteroids,

兩部拯救地球免於彗星和小行星毀滅的災難片、

two White Houses in danger, friends with benefits, magicians,

兩部白宮危機的電影、朋友間的利益、魔術師、

Churchill, pigs, Capote, and the list goes on and on.

邱吉爾、豬、柯波帝等等。

Do you ever wonder why some films seem to come in twos?

你有好奇過為什麼電影似乎都會成雙出現嗎？

This phenomenon is called "twin films".

這種現象稱作「雙重電影」。

It's when two films with similar plots from two different production companies are released around the same time.

兩家不同的製作公司在差不多相同的檔期上映兩部情節相似的電影。

And they've been happening since the beginning of Hollywood.

從好萊塢創辦以來就一直有發生過這種現象。

From "Gone with the Wind" and "Jezebel", both about Southern women in the mid-1800s vying for men they couldn't have,

從《亂世佳人》和《紅衫淚痕》，兩部都是關於南方女性在十九世紀中爭奪她們得不到的男人；

to "Oscar Wilde" and "The Trials Of Oscar Wilde", which were not only both released in 1960, but both premiered in the last week in May.

到《奧斯卡·王爾德》和《奧斯卡·王爾德的審判》，兩部不僅都是在1960上映，首場還都是在五月的最後一個禮拜。

And then there was "Harlow" and the other film also named "Harlow", which didn't even bother to come up with different names for the films about actress Jean Harlow.

之後還有《哈露傳》和另一個也叫《珍哈露情史》的電影，甚至懶得取不同的名字，直接用女演員珍·哈露名字的電影。

And this was just the start to what would eventually become an extremely common occurrence throughout cinematic history.

這只是整個電影史上極其普遍的事件開端。

As is with most twin films, one of them usually does really well at the box office, while the other one doesn't.

如大多雙重電影一樣，其中一部通常在票房上表現出色，而另一部則不然。

Take "Top Gun" and "Iron Eagle" for example.

拿《捍衛戰士》和《鐵鷹戰士》為例子。

Both were released in 1986.

兩部都是在1986年上映。

But "Top Gun" beat out "Iron Eagle" by a landslide, despite "Iron Eagle" being released first.

但《捍衛戰士》以絕對優勢打敗了《鐵鷹戰士》，儘管《鐵鷹戰士》是比較早上映的。

In 2012, "Mirror Mirror" couldn't compete with "Snow White and the Huntsman".

2012年，《魔鏡，魔鏡》無法與《公主與狩獵者》競爭。

With "Taken" and "Stolen", their similarities ended after having the same plot and being released in the same year.

《即刻救援》和《盜數計時》的相似之處在於相同的劇情，且於同年上映。

One of them tanked at the box office, while the other ones soared and is still being quoted today.

其中一部在票房大跌，而另一部則票房暴增，到現在都仍被提起。

But what I do have are a very particular set of skills.

但我的確有一項非常特殊的才能。

But if there's no guaranteed success, then why do twin films happen?

如果沒有保證的成功，那為什麼會有雙重電影出現？

Well, sometimes it's just plain coincidence.

有時候就只是平淡的巧合。

Two scripts about the same thing just happen to pop up on desks of two different studios around the same time.

兩份關於相同事物的腳本，恰好同時出現在兩個不同工作室的桌子上。

Take the 2015 film "Marguerite", which was based on socialite Florence Foster Jenkins.

以2015年的《巴黎走音天后》為例，該片改編自社交名媛佛羅倫薩福斯特·詹金斯。

The director found out about the competing film titled "Florence Foster Jenkins", starring Meryl Streep, one month before he started filming, and he knew his film was done.

導演在開始拍攝一個月後，發現一個由梅莉·史翠普主演的競爭電影《走音天后》時，他就知道自己的電影完了。

The latter was widely praised during the awards season that year.

後者在當年的影獎季廣受好評。

But, in other cases, some films might be inspired by the same event or tragedy around the same time.

但在其他例子中，有些電影可能是在同一時間由相同的事件或悲劇啟發。

After the passing of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011, two screenwriters began developing films around his life and death.

在2011年，Apple共同創辦人史蒂夫·賈伯斯過世後，兩個編劇家開始拍攝關於他生命故事的電影。

"Jobs", starring Ashton Kutcher, was released first in 2013 as a bit of a flop.

《賈伯斯》是由艾希頓·庫奇主演，在2013年首度上映時有點失敗。

While the other film, "Steve Jobs", took its time during the writing and development stages and was finally released in 2015 to great success.

另一部《史帝夫·賈伯斯》則在編劇和拍攝階段花了一些時間，最終在 2015 年上映，並得到極佳的成功。

And five years after the tragedy of 9/11, 2006 saw the release of "United 93", "Flight 93", and Nicolas Cage's "World Trade Center",

在911悲劇的五年後，2006年上映了《聯航93》、《93號班機》和尼可拉斯·凱吉的《世貿中心》

all inspired by the events of 9/11 and all released within months of each other.

都是受911事件啟發，並在幾個月內依序發布。

Other times though, it's far from coincidence.

但其他時候，這絕非巧合。

A studio might hear of another studio having a great idea, love it, steal it, and try to make it better and faster.

工作室可能聽到另一家公司有好點子，他們喜歡它，偷走它，並把它變得更好，拍得更快。

While not everybody has come out and admitted that⏤because who's gonna admit to plagiarism?

並不是所有人都會出來承認，誰會承認自己抄襲？

These films have enough evidence to support the drama that supposedly played out underneath the surface.

這些電影有足夠的證據，證實表面之下可能上演著戲劇性的事件。

"Antz" versus "A Bug's Life".

《小蟻雄兵》跟《蟲蟲危機 》相比。

In 1988, Disney pitched a story about army ants, which would later become "A Bug's Life".

1988年時，迪士尼推出一個關於軍蟻的故事，也就是《蟲蟲危機 》。

But after a feud with Disney's CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg left the company, took the story, and brought it to DreamWorks.

但在跟迪士尼執行長爭吵後，傑弗瑞·卡森伯格離開公司，並把故事帶去夢工廠動畫。

And so, "Antz" was born.

所以《小蟻雄兵》誕生了。

The speculation on the story being stolen had gotten so big that a Disney executive had called Katzenberg himself to ask him if it was true.

關於故事被盜用的臆測鬧到連迪士尼行政主管都打電話給卡森伯格本人，問他這事的真相。

And Katzenberg confirmed it.

卡森伯格承認了。

There are even rumors that Katzenberg bribed Disney to slow down the production of "A Bug's Life".

甚至還有傳言說卡森伯格賄賂迪士尼，讓他們減緩《蟲蟲危機》的製作。

And if he did, they would halt the production of "Antz".

如果他做了，那他們就會暫停《小蟻雄兵》的製作。

Well, it looks like that didn't exactly work out in his favor.

看起來並不是對他那麼有利。

"Mowgli" versus "The Jungle Book".

《森林之子毛克利》跟《與森林共舞》相比。

We recently saw the release of "Mowgli", the live-action "Jungle Book" film on Netflix.

最近可以看到真人版的《與森林共舞》，也就是《森林之子毛克利》在Netflix上架。

It felt all too familiar, because in 2016, we saw the release of a different live-action "Jungle Book" film titled, well, "The Jungle Book".

感覺太相似了，因為在2016年，我們看到不同版的真人《與森林共舞》也叫《與森林共舞》。

The Warner Brothers film "Mowgli" had actually started production first in 2012, and was scheduled to be released in October of 2016.

華納兄弟電影的《森林之子毛克利》在2012年就開始拍攝，並預計在2016年十月上映。

And shortly afterwards, Walt Disney Pictures happen to also announce that they were making a live-action adaptation of the story,

不久後，華特迪士尼影業也碰巧宣布他們要拍攝這個故事的真人改編版，

but that they would be releasing the film in April of 2016, conveniently before "Mowgli" was set to be released.

但他們會搶先在2016年四月上映，剛好就是在《森林之子毛克利》上映之前。

"Mowgli" ended up pushing their release date to October 2018, claiming it was due to special effects problems.

《森林之子毛克利》後來把他們上映日期延後到2018年十月，他們說是因為特效有問題。

But it's a good thing they did because "The Jungle Book" went on to make almost one billion dollars at the box office.

但他們這麼做是對的，因為《與森林共舞》的票房收入接近 10 億美元。

But it's not always so competitive in the world of twin films.

在雙重電影的世界裡，並不是一直都那麼競爭。

In 2009, there were two comedy mall cop films to hit the theaters.

在2009年，有兩部商場警匪喜劇片上映。

"Observe and Report" and "Paul Blart Mall-Cop".

就是《購物中心超級警探》和《百貨戰警》。

Seth Rogen actually even said in an interview to "GQ" that he knew about the filming of "Paul Blart" the whole time,

塞斯·羅根甚至在《GQ》的訪問上說他其實一直都知道《百貨戰警》的製作，

and that the two films would actually consult each other on productions so that they didn't step on each other's toes.

兩部電影會互相商量彼此的拍攝，才不會得罪他們。

Twin films are happening all around us, and they're not exactly stopping anytime soon.

雙重電影正在我們周圍發生，且短時間不會停止。

Most recently, we saw the release of a fyre fest documentary on Hulu, just days before Netflix was set to release their own.

最近我們看到《國王豪華音樂節》在Hulu上架，就在Netflix準備上架的前幾天。

So, what are your favorite twin films?

那你最喜歡的雙重電影是什麼？

Thank you for watching. Please be sure to like, comment, and subscribe to our channel.

感謝觀課，請記得按讚、留言跟訂閱頻道。

And don't forget to ring the little bell below, that way, you're notified for whenever we post new videos.

別忘了點擊底下的通知鈴鐺，這樣我們放上新影片時，你就會收到通知。