Double feature

The two operas have since been frequently performed as a double bill, a pairing referred to in the operatic world colloquially as "Cav and Pag".

Theater owners decided they could both attract more customers and save on costs if they offered two movies for the price of one.

The tactic worked; audiences considered the cost of a theater ticket good value for several hours of escapist and varied entertainment and the practice became a standard pattern of programming.

[citation needed] Although the double feature put many short comedy producers out of business, it was the primary source of revenue for smaller Hollywood studios, such as Republic and Monogram, that specialized in B movie production.

They discovered exhibitors were only interested in buying their pictures as supporting features (a B-movie) at a flat rate.

Since the trailers and advertising promoted the two titles, exhibitors were discouraged from separating the features in the package.

During the 1990s, many videotapes that contained two films on the same tape (with the second often a sequel to the first) were described as "double features," a practice that was later extended to DVDs.

Although Grindhouse received critical acclaim, it was a complete financial flop in the United States.

Another recent double feature was the Duel Project, when Japanese directors Ryuhei Kitamura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi created competing films to be shown and voted on by the premier audience.

[9] In February 2011, it was announced that the 14th Pokémon movie Victini and the Black Hero: Zekrom and Victini and the White Hero: Reshiram, due in July, would be released as a double feature, though both films are actually "versions" of each other, with differences related to plot points and character designs varying between the version being watched.

[10][11] In 2023, many theaters began offering double features for the live-action film version of Mattel's Barbie and biopic drama Oppenheimer as part of the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon.

The two films – which were noted for their tonal and genre contrast – were released on July 21 in the United States and many other countries such as Europe.