While major Hollywood releases always aim to achieve huge box office success, there are other films that became unlikelysurprise hitsand surpassed everyone’s expectations. Asleeper hitat the box office refers to a movie that had very little hype, marketing, or major fanfare around its release, only to unexpectedly build momentum and achieve a level of success that nobody previously thought possible. This has been a consistent phenomenon throughout movie history and proves that even if a film doesn’t have a lot of backing behind it, if the quality is high enough, viewers will find it.
Some of thebest directors of all timeachieved their breakthrough success due to a sleeper hit that opened the door for them to become hugely influential names in the film industry. Even movielegends like Steven Spielbergfirst became a household name due to the unlikely success ofJaws, a watershed moment in the history of cinema that changed the game forever. Going back even further, a movie likeCasablanca, which many rank as the best film ever made, wasa sleeper hit that nobody at the time thought we’d still be talking about eight decades later.
10Sleepless In Seattle (1993)
Directed by Nora Ephron
The 1990s were a golden age for the rom-com, boasting classics likePretty Woman,Notting Hill, andThere’s Something About Mary. Amid all of these beloved releases stoodSleepless in Seattle, a surprise sleeper hit thatreunited Tom Hanks with hisJoe Versus the Volcanoco-star Meg Ryan. As two performers with immense chemistry, it’s no surprise that audiences turned out to witness this tale of a man’s son calling into a talk-radio show in an attempt to find his father a partner.
Sleepless in Seattlewas the movie that put Nora Ephron on the map as an all-time great rom-com director, and she even brought Hanks and Ryan together again forYou’ve Got Mailfive years later. Earning the Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay,Sleepless in Seattlehas gained a reputation as one of the best rom-coms ever made. Produced for just $21 million,Sleepless in Seattlegrossed over ten times its budget and took in a whopping $225 million worldwide.
9Forrest Gump (1994)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Tom Hanks was on top of the world in 1994, having just earned an Oscar for Best Actor the year before forPhiladelphia,and he quickly surpassed everyone’s expectations by achieving the same feat once again for the Best Picture winner,Forrest Gump. As a thought-provoking comedy-drama,Forrest Gumphad a lot going for it, but nobody expected it to become the highest-grossing movie in the United States that year.
The way that Forrest’s life story traversed the length and breadth of 20th-century American history just struck a chord with audiences, and the movie grossed $678 million on a $55 million budget. Coming from theBack to the Futurefilmmaker Robert Zemeckis,Forrest Gumpwas just the beginning for the filmmaker’s collaborations with Hanks, and over the next 30 years, they went on to makeCast Away,The Polar Express,Pinocchio, andHere.
8Casablanca (1942)
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Today, the nameCasablancahas become easy shorthand for describing an all-time great movie, but its success wasn’t always so assured. As a classic release starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, this World War II romance was packed with some of the most iconic quotes in all of cinema. However, it was also a product of the Hollywood studio system, which saw movies produced using an almost production-line philosophy that ensured films were filmed and released incredibly fast, with no one expecting them to endure throughout the decades.
While nobody thoughtCasablancawas disposable, it wasn’t expected to stand out so much among the countless other romantic movies being released in the early 1940s. Yet,Casablancaexceeded all expectations, earned the Oscar for Best Picture, and took in an impressive $4.7 million at the box office, which was a massive figure at the time. The legacy ofCasablancahas extended far beyond a simple sleeper hit, and it now stands as one of the most revered films there’s ever been.
Directed by George Miller
George Miller’s action-packed dystopian classic was such a surprise sleeper hit that it actually entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the most profitable movie of all time, grossing over $100 million against a budget of between A$350,000 and 400,000. Inspired by the Australian director’s time working in a hospital emergency room, Miller populated the drought-stricken post-apocalyptic landscape ofMad Maxwith chaos, violence, and hordes of wild and outlandish characters.
As Miller’s directorial debut,nobody expectedMad Maxto become the major movie franchise it grew into, and its success was unprecedented for a low-budget Australian movie.Mad Maxcatapulted its star, Mel Gibson, to global success and led to two sequels throughout the 1980s before Tom Hardy took over the role inMad Max: Fury Roadin 2015. As a franchise that’s as popular today as it was back in 1979, it all started with the surprise success ofMad Max.
6The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Directed by Jim Sharman
As one of the most successful movie musicals of all time, the story ofThe Rocky Horror Picture Show’snow esteemed legacy was far from straightforward. While this sleeper hit boasts one of the most devoted fan bases of all time, the enthusiastic costumed crowds at midnight movie showings took a long time to develop, andThe Rocky Horror Picture Showactually went from a notorious box office flop to a sleeper hit.
As a cult classic and one of the most famous examples of LGBTQ+ cinema, the songs fromThe Rocky Horror Picture Showhave become touchstones of popular culture. With a worldwide box office of over $115 million, these earnings only came following the movie’s re-release at midnight movie screenings in the latter part of the 1970s. While viewers didn’t take toThe Rocky Horror Picture Showinitially, as they went on, costumed viewers began attending sing-along screenings and transformed it into the classic we know and love today.
5Jaws (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Jawsinvented the summer blockbuster as we know it today, and its success, along withStar Warstwo years later, literally changed the landscape of Hollywood. As the breakout film of director Steven Spielberg,Jawswas a cultural phenomenon that spread previously unheard-of fear into the hearts of audience members and even led to a genuine case of cinematic neurosis (viaPsychiatric Times.) Grossing $477 million against its $7 million budget, the success ofJawswas unprecedented at the time.
Jawswas a pivotal release in the movie industry that signaled the beginning of a shift away from the auteur-driven philosophies of the New Hollywood movement toward a focus on high-concept action and adventure films that could maximize box office returns. WhileJawsstands as one of the best thriller movies ever made, its impact was both a blessing and a curse, as film studios have been continually trying to recapture its success for the past 50 years.
4Halloween (1978)
Directed by John Carpenter
The independent horror filmHalloweenhelped lay the groundwork for the entire slasher genreand was a low-budget success that surpassed everyone’s expectations. Coming from director John Carpenter,Halloweenwas just the beginning of a massive ongoing franchise that would continue with several sequels, spin-offs, reboots, and reimaginings. However, it’s the original story of the knife-wielding babysitter killer, Michael Myers, that stands as the most revered entry in the entire series.
With a budget of just $325,000 and a worldwide gross of $47 million,Halloweenwas one of the most influential horror movies ever made, as it pushed the terror of earlier releases likePsychoandThe Texas Chain Saw Massacreeven further. With Myers' simple yet frightening mask as a symbol for the unstoppable horror of a deranged maniac,Halloweenwas a major contributor to the growing popularity of slashers during the 1980s, as countless more movies attempted to cash in on its success.
3Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Directed by Jared Hess
The coming-of-age classicNapoleon Dynamiteoffered a unique insight into the awkward and absurd life of a socially inept teenager in Preston, Idaho. As the feature debut from director Jared Hess and featuring a cast of mostly unknown performers, this quirky indie film was expected to fly under the radar and, at best, be remembered as an underseen cult classic. However, Napoleon Dynamite’s eccentric mix of oddball characters connected with mainstream viewers, and the film became a hit at the box office with a total gross of over $46 million against a $400,000 budget.
The deadpan comedy stylings and endlessly quotable dialogue ofNapoleon Dynamitewere truly something special, as the film captured the awkward nature of the high school experience. With a relatable outcast at the center of its story, Jon Heder’s portrayal ofNapoleon captured the challenges of being young in high schoolin an unapologetically weird way. As an unlikely hit,Napoleon Dynamitewas even the subject of a slew of merchandise, including its iconic “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt.
2My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Directed by Joel Zwick
My Big Fat Greek Weddingtapped into the hilarious nuances of the immigrant experience in a way that connected with viewers all over the world. Telling the story of a Greek-American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek man, watching the hilarious cultural clash that takes place when they attempt to tie the knot was certainly a sight to behold. As a small-scale comedy,My Big Fat Greek Weddingsurpassed all box office expectations when it grossed over $368 million against a $5 million budget.
The success of the original movie even led to two sequels further exploring the complexities of the mixed-heritage couple’s relationship, but neither follow-up film could live up to the appeal of the original.My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ssuccess even extended beyond box office figures, as writer and starNia Vardalos was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplayfor the film.
1The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez
As a low-budget found-footage horror movie without any star power,The Blair Witch Projectwas never expected to become a genuine cultural phenomenon. However, clever marketing and excellent word-of-mouth hype led to it becoming one of the most financially successful horror movies of all time in terms of budget-to-box-office ratio. As a sleeper hit that earned almost $250 million against its $35,000 to $60,000 production budget,The Blair Witch Projectwas a defining release of the found-footage genrethat essentially rewrote the rulebook on horror movie advertising.
The Blair Witch Projectwas an early example of online marketing and became one of the first viral hits of the internet era. By presenting the movie as if it were a real documentary, many viewers bought into the idea that the fictional myth of the Blair Witch was real. This marketing campaign reached its peak when the official website forThe Blair Witch Projectfeatured fake police reports (viaBBC) and newsreel-style interviews about the supposedly missing students in the film, further ensuring the audience’s interest in this exceptionalsleeper hit.
Source: All box office figures have been sourced fromBox Office Mojo,Psychiatric Times,BBC
