Page "Sleeper hit" Paragraph 3

A sleeper hit does not necessarily have to create a lot of revenue ; it just needs to achieve a high degree of success relative to expectations.

The Dreamworks film Shark Tale was panned by critics but was a box-office success with fans garnering $ 367, 275, 019, nearly five times its budget.

However, the term is generally not used to refer to large-budget films — even those that defy their expectations, such as 1997's Titanic, which had been expected to lose money.

The term is fairly subjective, so many films are informally referred to as sleepers.

Sometimes unreleased films are advertised as sleepers.