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A sleeper hit (often simply called a "sleeper") refers to a film, book, album, TV show, or video game that gains unexpected success or recognition. The term is most commonly used in reference to feature films. This article is about motion pictures. ... For other uses, see Book (disambiguation). ... An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Computer and video games redirects here. ...

Sleeper films

Some sleeper hits achieve unexpected success at the box office immediately upon their initial theatrical release, but this is not typical. Since these films are not expected to do particularly well they are often underpromoted and take time to register in the public consciousness. Typically the sleeper hit relies instead on positive word of mouth and publicity generated by good reviews or awards. Thus sleeper films often attract the most viewers in the latter part of their theatrical releases. For example, There's Something About Mary had a small release, but gained notoriety through word of mouth, and grew to top the weekend box office on its 8th week of release. Studios have become more adept at responding to sleeper success at the box office by gradually increasing the number of screens and amount of advertising devoted to a promising film over several weeks (as opposed to a traditional pre-release advertising blitz). This strategy was used to great success by the promoters of Little Miss Sunshine and Brokeback Mountain.^{[citation needed]} Some sleeper hits fail completely at the box office but succeed later on video as cult films through positive word of mouth reviews communicated between fans in particular social networks or demographics. The term box office can refer to either: A place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue The amount of business a particular production, such as a movie or theatre show, does. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Look up publicity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Theres Something About Mary is an American film released in 1998 by 20th Century Fox, directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly (the Farrelly brothers). ... For other uses, see Word of mouth (disambiguation). ... For the childrens book character, see Little Miss Sunshine (character). ... This article is about the motion picture. ... A cult film is a movie that attracts a small but devoted group of obsessive fans or one that has remained popular over successive years amongst a small group of followers. ...

A sleeper hit does not necessarily have to make a lot of revenue; it just needs to achieve a high degree of success relative to expectations. However, the term is generally not used to refer to large budget movies, even those that defy their expectations, such as 1997's Titanic. The term is fairly subjective, so many movies are informally referred to as sleepers. Sometimes even an unreleased movie is advertised as a sleeper. Titanic is a 1997 disaster romance film directed, written, produced and edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. ...

Examples

• Rocky (1976)^[1]
• Star Wars (1977)
• Halloween (1978)^[2]
• Creepshow (1982)
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)^[3]
• A Christmas Story (1983)^[4]
• Ghostbusters (1984)
• The Terminator (1984)
• Back to the Future (1985)
• Stand by Me (1986)^[4]
• Dirty Dancing (1987)^[5]
• Fatal Attraction (1987)
• A Fish Called Wanda (1988)^[4]
• Ghost (1990)
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
• Boyz N The Hood (1991)
• Blood In Blood Out (1993)
• Menace II Society (1993)
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994)^[6]
• Clueless (1995)
• Scream (1996)
• Independence Day (1996)
• Sling Blade (1996)
• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
• The Full Monty (1997)^[5]
• There's Something About Mary (1998)^[4]
• American Pie (1999)^[7]
• Office Space (1999)
• The Sixth Sense (1999)
• The Blair Witch Project (1999)^[5]
• The Boondock Saints (1999)^[5]
• The Matrix (1999)
• Scary Movie (2000)
• Legally Blonde (2001)
• Rush Hour 2 (2001)
• The Fast and the Furious (2001)
• 28 Days Later (2002)^[8]
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)^{[5] [9]}
• Bringing Down The House (2003)
• Garden State (2004)^[10]
• Napoleon Dynamite (2004)^[10]
• Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
• Saw (2004)
• Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
• March of the Penguins (2005)^[11]
• The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)^[10]
• Little Miss Sunshine (2006)^[10][5]
• The Bucket List (2007)
• Juno (2007)

For other uses, see Rocky (disambiguation). ... This article is about the series. ... Halloween (film) redirects here. ... Creepshow is a classic 1982 anthology horror movie directed by George A. Romero (of Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead fame), and written by Stephen King (The Shining, Misery, The Stand). ... Ridgemont High School redirects here. ... For the Christian Christmas story, see Nativity of Jesus A Christmas Story is a 1983 film based on the short stories and semi-fictional anecdotes of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd, including material from his books In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickeys Night of... For other uses, see Ghostbusters (disambiguation). ... This article is about the first film in the series. ... This article is about the first film in the Back to the Future trilogy. ... For other uses, see Stand by Me. ... Dirty Dancing is a 1987 romance film credited as being one of the most watched films of all time, particularly among women. ... Fatal Attraction is a 1987 thriller about a married man who has a weekend affair with a woman who refuses to allow it to end and who becomes obsessed with him. ... A Fish Called Wanda is a movie released in 1988 by MGM. It was written by John Cleese and directed by Charles Crichton. ... For other uses, see Ghost (disambiguation). ... Terminator 2: Judgment Day (commonly abbreviated T2) is a 1991 movie directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Robert Patrick. ... This article is about the song by rapper Eazy-E. For 1991 film, see Boyz n the Hood. ... Blood In Blood Out (also known as Bound by Honor) is a 1993 film directed by Taylor Hackford. ... Menace II Society is a 1993 American hood film and the directorial debut of twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes. ... For the novella, see Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. ... Clueless is a 1995 comedy film loosely based on Emma by Jane Austen, but set in a Beverly Hills high school. ... Scream is a 1996 horror film, directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. ... Independence Day (also known by its promotional abbreviation ID4) is a 1996 Academy Award-winning science fiction film directed by Roland Emmerich. ... This article is about the 1996 film. ... Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, directed by Jay Roach, is the first film of the Austin Powers series. ... This article is about the film. ... Theres Something About Mary is an American film released in 1998 by 20th Century Fox, directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly (the Farrelly brothers). ... American Pie is a 1999 teen comedy film directed by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz and written by Adam Herz. ... Office Space is an American comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. ... For the ability sometimes referred to as sixth sense, see Extra-sensory perception. ... The Blair Witch Project is a low-budget American horror film released in 1999. ... The Boondock Saints is a 1999 action crime drama film written and directed by Troy Duffy. ... This article is about the 1999 film. ... This article is about a horror parody movie. ... Legally Blonde is a 2001 comedy film starring Reese Witherspoon, produced by Marc E. Platt for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios and directed by Robert Luketic. ... Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 martial arts/buddy cop film starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. ... The Fast and the Furious is a 2001 car film starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, and directed by Rob Cohen. ... 28 Days Later is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film directed by Danny Boyle and starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Christopher Eccleston. ... My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. ... Bringing Down the House Bringing Down the House: An American comedy movie starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. ... Garden State is a 2004 film written, directed by and starring Zach Braff, with Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard and co-starring Ian Holm. ... This article is about the movie. ... Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (released in some countries as Harold and Kumar get the Munchies or American High, due to few international White Castle locations) is a comedy movie released in 2004. ... Saw is a 2004 horror film, and the first installment of the Saw film series. ... This article is about the motion picture. ... Diary of a Mad Black Woman is a film adaptation written by Tyler Perry, which was inspired by the play of the same name. ... March of the Penguins (French: La Marche de lempereur; literally The Emperors March) is an Academy Award-winning documentary film by Luc Jacquet, co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. ... The 40 Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 American comedy film, written by Judd Apatow and co-written by Steve Carell, though it featured a great deal of improvised dialogue. ... For the childrens book character, see Little Miss Sunshine (character). ... The Bucket List is a 2008 American film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd, and Rob Morrow. ... Juno is a 2007 comedy film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. ...

Books

In publishing, success is usually measured by reaching the bestseller lists. Sleeper books are usually released by an unknown (often first-time) author, are not widely publicized on release, and may not sell well at first. However, sleeper books gain recognition by word-of-mouth and this leads to sales increases. They can be promoted by independent booksellers, book clubs, or literary awards. A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and booktrade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. ... A book sales club is a subscription-based method of selling and purchasing books. ...

A good example is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. This book, written by a first-time novelist, was released with a modest print run of 25,000. It received good reviews and was initially promoted by small booksellers and word-of-mouth. The book won the 1997 National Book Award, spent 45 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, sold over a million copies in hardback alone, and was adapted for film in 2003. This article is about the novel. ... Charles Frazier, American novelist, was born in 1950 in Asheville, North Carolina, graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1973, and received his Ph. ... The National Book Awards is one of the most preeminent literary prizes in the United States. ... The New York Times Best Seller List is a weekly chart in The New York Times newspaper that keeps track of the best-selling books of the week. ... This article is about the film. ...

An increase in sales may push the book onto the bestseller list long after its release date. For example, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood reached the bestseller lists two years after it was initially released. This contrasts with the usual pattern of bestsellers by recognized authors, where sales are high upon release but fall off sharply after a short time. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a 2002 movie based on a novel of the same name by writer Rebecca Wells. ...

At least in the UK, Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones only became a huge bestseller at least a year after its publication, following indifferent or mixed reviews upon its first release. Word of mouth and promotion by televised reading groups facilitated such an explosion in sales and readership. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... Alice Seebold (b. ... This article is about the novel. ...

The original Harry Potter books began as sleeper hits, only reaching high profile with the third in the series. This article is about the Harry Potter series of novels. ... HP3 redirects here. ...

The Godfather, most commonly known now for the movie of the same name, was originally a book, written by Mario Puzo with the intention of creating a bestseller. As its screenplay was being developed, the book grew rapidly in popularity, eventually topping the bestseller charts, far beyond anyone's expectations. The Godfather is a novel written by American author Mario Puzo originally published in 1969 by G. P. Putnams Sons. ... This article is about the 1972 film. ... Mario Gianluigi Puzo (October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author known for his novels about the Mafia, especially The Godfather (1969). ...

Examples

• The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
• The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
• Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
• The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
• The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Bridges of Madison County is a best-selling novel by Robert James Waller which tells the story of a lonely Italian war bride who develops a romantic interest in a dashing photographer who has come to Madison County, Iowa in order to create a photographic essay on the covered... Robert James Waller (born August 1, 1939 in Rockford, Iowa) is an American author also known for his work as a photographer and musician. ... Captain Corellis Mandolin, a 1993 novel written by Louis de Bernières, is a story about an Italian captain (Antonio Corelli) and the daughter (Pelagia) of the local physician (Dr. Iannis) on the island of Kefalonia set against the background of the Italian/German occupation of the island during... For the film of the same name, see Captain Corellis Mandolin (film). ... The Celestine Prophecy is a 1993 novel by James Redfield. ... James Redfield (b. ... This article is about the novel. ... Charles Frazier, American novelist, was born in 1950 in Asheville, North Carolina, graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1973, and received his Ph. ... A Confederacy of Dunces is a novel written by John Kennedy Toole, published in 1980, 11 years after the authors suicide. ... John Kennedy Toole (December 17, 1937 – March 26, 1969) was an American novelist, from New Orleans, Louisiana, best known for his novel A Confederacy of Dunces. ... The Da Vinci Code is a mystery/detective novel by American author Dan Brown, published in 2003 by Doubleday. ... Dan Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. ... The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a 2002 movie based on a novel of the same name by writer Rebecca Wells. ... Rebecca Wells is an actress, playwright and author. ... HPSS and HP1 redirect here. ... Joanne Rowling OBE (born July 31, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire), commonly known as J.K. Rowling (pronunciation: roll-ing; her former students used to joke with her name calling her the Rolling Stone), is a British fiction writer. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... John Berendt is the author of the best-selling non-fiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. ... For the movie The Red Tent which refers to a North Pole rescue expedition, see the article Umberto Nobile. ... Anita Diamant Anita Diamant (born June 27, 1951) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction books. ... For the upcoming film based on the novel starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, see The Time Travelers Wife (film). ... Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963 in South Haven, Michigan) is a writer and artist. ... The Kite Runner is a novel by American author Khaled Hosseini. ... Khaled Hosseini (Persian: خالد حسینی)(IPA pronunciation: [1])(born March 4, 1965) is an Afghanistani-American novelist and physician. ...

Other media

Unexpectedly successful video games such as Halo:Combat Evolved, Katamari Damacy, Gitaroo Man , Guitar Hero, Animal Crossing, Phantom Dust , The Sims, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Indigo Prophecy, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan,Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, Burnout and the PC game Homeworld can also be described as sleeper hits. Computer and video games redirects here. ... Halo: Combat Evolved, or simply Halo, is a video game in the first-person shooter (FPS) genre, created by the Microsoft-owned Bungie Studios. ... Katamari Damacy , lit. ... Gitaroo-Man is a video game for the Sony PlayStation 2, published by Koei. ... Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. ... For other uses, see Animal Crossing (disambiguation). ... Phantom Dust ) is a video game for the Xbox console. ... This article is about a computer game that was released in year 2000. ... Fahrenheit (Known as Indigo Prophecy in the US) is a videogame due for release in October 2005. ... Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (魔界戦記 ディスガイア; Makai Senki Disgaea, lit. ... Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan , lit. ... Burnout is a series of high-speed racing games for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube game consoles. ... This article is about the computer game named Homeworld. ...

Another type of sleeper hit is an album that is released by an unknown artist with little publicity, but proceeds to gain large sales. For example, Alanis Morissette's first international album Jagged Little Pill entered the Billboard Music Charts at position 117 and reached the top 10 in its 6th week. However, it spent 69 consecutive weeks in the top 10 and has sold 30 million copies worldwide. Another example is Nirvana's Nevermind, which surpassed all expectations and became one of the most popular albums of the 90s, shooting the band into worldwide popularity. Alanis Nadine Morissette (born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. ... Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album and the first internationally released album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette. ... Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. ... This article is about the Buddhist concept. ... For other uses, see Nevermind (disambiguation). ...

Joss Whedon's Firefly, a television show aired in 2002 by Fox Broadcasting Company, received very little coverage at the time of its broadcast and was cancelled after only 11 episodes. However, subsequent to its cancellation, the DVD box set sold in massive numbers and remains one of the most purchased items on Amazon.com. This led to the filming and release of Serenity, a movie concluding the series, which achieved critical acclaim and modest box office success. Joss Hill Whedon (born Joseph Hill Whedon[3] on June 23, 1964 in New York) is an Academy Award-nominated American writer, director, executive producer, and creator of the well-known television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. ... Firefly is an American science fiction television series created by writer/director Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, under his Mutant Enemy Productions. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... FOX redirects here. ... Amazon. ... Serenity is a 2005 science fiction space western/epic film written and directed by Joss Whedon. ...

The NBC sitcom Seinfeld premiered in 1989 with little success. It originally didn't make it into NBC's schedule and was about to be cancelled (because of lack of success and the content of the show) but 5 more episodes for the first season were given to complete the NBC schedule. NBC would give Seinfeld three seasons from 1990-1992 and although acclaimed, didn't even make the top 30 shows. However, with positive reviews, word of mouth, Emmy wins, and a timeslot move to 9:30pm Thursday nights after the hit sitcom Cheers, Seinfeld gained significant ratings and became a part of the top 30 in its fourth season, and eventually became the #1 show. Although it only had significant success for a short time while on television, today, ten years after the finale, Seinfeld (including the early seasons) remains one of the most syndicated programs and one of the biggest DVD hits, some calling it the greatest sitcom ever on TV. This article is about the television network. ... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... For other uses, see Seinfeld (disambiguation). ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... An Emmy Award. ... This article is about the TV series. ...

See also

• Sleeper for other uses of the word

Sleeper has a number of different meanings, usually connected to sleep in varying degrees of literalness: Sleeper is a Woody Allen movie. ...

External links

• Movies that took the longest time to reach #1 at the weekend box office
• The Science of the Sleeper

References