While major Hollywood releases always aim to achieve huge box office success, there are other films that became unlikely surprise hits and surpᴀssed everyone’s expectations. A sleeper hit at 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 the best directors of all time achieved their breakthrough success due to a sleeper hit that opened the door for them to become hugely influential names in the film industry. Even movie legends like Steven Spielberg first became a household name due to the unlikely success of Jaws, a watershed moment in the history of cinema that changed the game forever. Going back even further, a movie like Casablanca, which many rank as the best film ever made, was a sleeper hit that nobody at the time thought we’d still be talking about eight decades later.

10

Sleepless In Seattle (1993)

Directed by Nora Ephron

The 1990s were a golden age for the rom-com, boasting classics like Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, and There’s Something About Mary. Amid all of these beloved releases stood Sleepless in Seattle, a surprise sleeper hit that reunited Tom Hanks with his Joe Versus the Volcano co-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 Seattle was 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 for You’ve Got Mail five years later. Earning the Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, Sleepless in Seattle has gained a reputation as one of the best rom-coms ever made. Produced for just $21 million, Sleepless in Seattle grossed over ten times its budget and took in a whopping $225 million worldwide.

9

Forrest 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 for Philadelphia, and he quickly surpᴀssed everyone’s expectations by achieving the same feat once again for the Best Picture winner, Forrest Gump. As a thought-provoking comedy-drama, Forrest Gump had 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 the Back to the Future filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, Forrest Gump was just the beginning for the filmmaker’s collaborations with Hanks, and over the next 30 years, they went on to make Cast Away, The Polar Express, Pinocchio, and Here.

8

Casablanca (1942)

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Today, the name Casablanca has become easy shorthand for describing an all-time great movie, but its success wasn’t always so ᴀssured. 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 thought Casablanca was disposable, it wasn’t expected to stand out so much among the countless other romantic movies being released in the early 1940s. Yet, Casablanca exceeded all expectations, earned the Oscar for Best Picture, and took in an impressive $4.7 million at the box office, which was a mᴀssive figure at the time. The legacy of Casablanca has extended far beyond a simple sleeper hit, and it now stands as one of the most revered films there’s ever been.

7

Mad Max (1979)

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 of Mad Max with chaos, violence, and hordes of wild and outlandish characters.

As Miller’s directorial debut, nobody expected Mad Max to become the major movie franchise it grew into, and its success was unprecedented for a low-budget Australian movie. Mad Max catapulted its star, Mel Gibson, to global success and led to two sequels throughout the 1980s before Tom Hardy took over the role in Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015. As a franchise that’s as popular today as it was back in 1979, it all started with the surprise success of Mad Max.

6

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Directed by Jim Sharman

As one of the most successful movie musicals of all time, the story of The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s now 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, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show actually 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 from The Rocky Horror Picture Show have 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 to The Rocky Horror Picture Show initially, as they went on, costumed viewers began attending sing-along screenings and transformed it into the classic we know and love today.

5

Jaws (1975)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Jaws invented the summer blockbuster as we know it today, and its success, along with Star Wars two years later, literally changed the landscape of Hollywood. As the breakout film of director Steven Spielberg, Jaws was 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 (via Psychiatric Times.) Grossing $477 million against its $7 million budget, the success of Jaws was unprecedented at the time.

Jaws was 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. While Jaws stands 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.

4

Halloween (1978)

Directed by John Carpenter

The independent horror film Halloween helped lay the groundwork for the entire slasher genre and was a low-budget success that surpᴀssed everyone’s expectations. Coming from director John Carpenter, Halloween was just the beginning of a mᴀssive 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, Halloween was one of the most influential horror movies ever made, as it pushed the terror of earlier releases like Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Mᴀssacre even further. With Myers’ simple yet frightening mask as a symbol for the unstoppable horror of a deranged maniac, Halloween was a major contributor to the growing popularity of slashers during the 1980s, as countless more movies attempted to cash in on its success.

3

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Directed by Jared Hess

The coming-of-age classic Napoleon Dynamite offered 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 ᴅᴇᴀᴅpan comedy stylings and endlessly quotable dialogue of Napoleon Dynamite were 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 of Napoleon captured the challenges of being young in high school in an unapologetically weird way. As an unlikely hit, Napoleon Dynamite was even the subject of a slew of merchandise, including its iconic “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt.

2

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Directed by Joel Zwick

My Big Fat Greek Wedding tapped 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 Wedding surpᴀssed 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’s success even extended beyond box office figures, as writer and star Nia Vardalos was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film.

1

The 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 Project was 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 Project was a defining release of the found-footage genre that essentially rewrote the rulebook on horror movie advertising.

The Blair Witch Project was 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 for The Blair Witch Project featured fake police reports (via BBC) and newsreel-style interviews about the supposedly missing students in the film, further ensuring the audience’s interest in this exceptional sleeper hit.

Source: All box office figures have been sourced from Box Office Mojo, Psychiatric Times, BBC