The Parent Trap is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nancy Meyers in her directorial debut, who also wrote with David Swift and Charles Shyer, who also produced.

After discovering the parallels between their eerily similar family situations, Hallie and Annie show each other a photograph of their parents and realize that they are identical twins who were separated at birth.

While on the phone with Annie discussing Nick's impending wedding to Meredith, Hallie is caught by Charles, who encourages her to tell Elizabeth the truth.

Annie and Hallie, with Chessy and Martin's help, attempt to recreate the night their parents met by arranging dinner on a yacht.

Elizabeth plans to fly back to London with Annie the next day, but the twins refuse to reveal which one is which unless the entire family takes a camping trip.

[9] Filming Principal photography started on July 15, 1997, in London, United Kingdom, and continued in Napa Valley AVA, San Francisco, Lake Arrowhead, and Los Angeles, California to December 17, 1997.

[19][20] Former Disney executive Michael Eisner is said to have made comments to Lohan and Meyers at the time of the premiere suggesting that the twins were played by two different girls.

In 2014, Das doppelte Lottchen was faithfully retranslated into English by Anthea Bell and republished in the United Kingdom and Australia by Pushkin Press as The Parent Trap,[23] after Disney's hit film adaptations.

[24] There are several connections between this film and the original 1961 version: The song used in the opening sequence, in which glimpses of Nick and Elizabeth's first wedding are seen, is Nat King Cole's "L-O-V-E".

The instrumental music featured prominently in the hotel scene where the girls and their parents cross paths serendipitously is "In the Mood", which was previously made famous by the Glenn Miller band.

When Hallie shows up at Annie's poker game at Camp Walden, the music used is "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

The tune playing as Hallie and Annie are making their way up to the Isolation Cabin is the main theme from "The Great Escape" by Elmer Bernstein.

The song coming from the radio in Meredith's car as she pulls up to the Parkers' home is "Parents Just Don't Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.

[25] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $11,148,497 in 2,247 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #2 at the box office, behind Saving Private Ryan.

The website's critics consensus states: "Writer-director Nancy Meyers takes the winning formula of the 1961 original and gives it an amiable modern spin, while young star Lindsay Lohan shines in her breakout role.

[31] Critic Kenneth Turan called Lohan "the soul of this film as much as Hayley Mills was of the original", going on to say that "she is more adept than her predecessor at creating two distinct personalities".

[46] Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann Walter, Simon Kunz, Nancy Meyers, and Charles Shyer all participated in the video chat.

[47] A charity fundraising effort during the COVID-19 pandemic, the reunion special helped raise money for chef José Andrés' non-profit organization World Central Kitchen.