Synopsis

Overworked construction manager Doug Kinney accepts an experimental cloning procedure so a duplicate can handle his job while he spends more time with his family. When domestic responsibilities demand another copy, Doug creates a third clone, and the duplicates develop sharply different personalities. As more versions of Doug enter his life, his attempt to simplify everything produces increasingly chaotic consequences.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film was adapted from a short story by Chris Miller that appeared in National Lampoon. Columbia Pictures was reported to have acquired the screenplay in January 1993.

• The multiple versions of Doug were created through a combination of split-screen photography, greenscreen elements, live compositing, and digital effects. Richard Edlund's Boss Film Studios supervised the visual effects work.

• A planned digital effect for a scene involving a tossed beer can was reportedly unnecessary. Michael Keaton's throw matched the body double's earlier throw closely enough that the original can could be used, saving the production additional effects work.

• Doug Kinney's name is a tribute to Douglas Kenney, the National Lampoon co-founder who worked with Chris Miller on Animal House.

• Multiplicity opened in the United States on July 17, 1996. Made for approximately $45 million, it earned about $37 million worldwide and was considered a box-office disappointment.

• The film arrived during a crowded summer that also featured several major effects-driven releases, including Independence Day, Twister, and Dragonheart.