When a movie is described as "a sleeper" what does that mean?

Answer 1

It means when it first came out people didnt notice it much or it didnt make much money. But over time it gained in popularity.

Answer 2

The term "sleeper," when used to describe a movie, TV show or book, has nothing to do with the work being boring. It refers to a piece of work that is unexpected that gains immense success. Notable examples include The Blair Witch Project and Babe. These movies, as well as many others, achieved success far beyond what was expected.

Answer 3

That's weird, I thought "sleeper" was just the opposite, a movie the industry thought would bomb (or was cheap) but that comes out on top - like Blair Witch Project and Little Miss Sunshine.

That's what a sleeper in sports is about - someone you don't expect really does well.

Answer 4

A sleeper is a movie that had very little promotion but did surprising well at the box office. It just snuck in under the radar.

Answer 5

A sleeper hit (often simply called a "sleeper") refers to an unhyped film, book, album, TV show, or video game that gains unexpected success or recognition.

In terms of a sleeper film, success generally refers to an unexpected box office success, such as that achieved by the low-budget The Blair Witch Project. A film might also gain sleeper status through critical or industry recognition, as was the case with Babe, an unassuming children's movie that surprisingly garnered seven Academy Award nominations. A sleeper film can also be one that is not initially successful, but over time surprises people by becoming so. For example, There's Something About Mary had a predictable release, but gained notoriety through word of mouth, and grew to top the weekend box office on its 8th week of release.

Since they aren't expected to do tremendously well, sleeper films often lack the sort of pre-release advertising given to the big budget films that are expected to become blockbusters. So the sleeper hit instead relies on positive word of mouth and publicity generated by awards, such as the Academy Awards or Golden Globes. As a sleeper film generates positive reviews it will often receive a boost from news media publicity. It might also receive publicity through controversy, such as Fahrenheit 9/11. Many popular cult films have become sleepers due to their base of loyal yet underestimated fans, such as the cult classic Highlander.

Sleeper hits usually seem to come out of nowhere, like the 1976 film Rocky, which was written by and starred Sylvester Stallone, a relatively unknown actor at that time. The film catapulted Stallone to stardom, and its success was completely unexpected.

Studios will catch on quickly to a sleeper's potential, and belatedly increase its advertising budget accordingly. Usually a movie's status as a sleeper hit is well-known by the time it reaches home video, so its home video sales are expected to be high. Sometimes, however, a movie does not reach sleeper status until it reaches home video, such as Austin Powers or Office Space.

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.

Another example of a sleeper film would be one that is underestimated because there are older versions of the same story. For example, many believed the Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV serial) to be the "definitive" version with no need of another adaptation, and the Pride & Prejudice (2005 film) was only expected to succeed in the UK. However, the new adaptation earned Keira Knightley an Academy Award nomination and fame worldwide.

Answer 6

I think it means it doesn't seem like it would be a good movie, but is actually really good...
kinda like racing street rods, someone may have a car that looks like it can't do much, but under the hood it's got a super beefy engine!

Answer 7

It could be they're describing it as a movie that NO ONE thought would do good at all.

Answer 8

It means it starts off slow at the box office then comes alive in ticket sales

Answer 9

It means a movie that becomes popular when nobody expected it to

Answer 10

i means the movie was good, but due to circumstances it did bad at the box office.