If your goal is solely to customize the login form, replicating wp-login.php isn’t an optimal approach. The recommended way to customize the login page is to simply call wp_login_form() from a template. The form can be styled any way you like. It can be part of header or sidebar templates, or you could make a custom page template that outputs a dedicated login page. The related login functionality still passes through wp-login.php, but users rarely see its output. They normally only interact with your login form. See Make a Custom Login Page.
You can instead customize the default wp-login.php to some extent. In many cases this is adequate and more reliable than completely custom forms. Scroll up from the previous link destination to see the other customizing options available through the default login form.
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]]>You are still better off calling wp_login_form() from a page template and leaving the login code alone. That login page’s code is frequently tweaked for security reasons. When you make your own version, you either miss out on these improvements or you need to continually monitor changes so they can be applied to your version of the page. One is a bad idea and the other a PITA. Use the page template approach and you never need to fuss with it again if you don’t want to.
I’m not trying to tell you what to do, it’s your site after all. I’m merely passing along information applicable to your situation. Do with it as you please.
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