Talk:Sleeper hit

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[edit] The Matrix, Borat!, American Pie

According to the definition given in this article, neither of these three films should be in the list. All three were hyped by their distributors; Borat! especially since I've seen ads, commercials, whatnot all over the place since long before the film was released. --IndigoAK200 18:39, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm putting in the Pride and Prejudice (2005 film), because nobody expected it to be a success, beyond the U.K. and because of the 1995 TV series, and what a surprise! It even got nominated for the Academy Awards. 20:27, 16 July 2006 (PST)


I'm afraid this could be controversial, but I'm adding the original Star Wars to the list of sleeper movies. It's probably the most well-known and most successful sleeper hit in history, though in this day and age there are probably many people who don't realize this and have no idea it was a sleeper in its day. I'm listing it without all of the "Episode IV: Blah Blah Blah" tacked on, I'm listing as simply "Star Wars," which was its original title. Please leave it as such. Druff 23:24, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

You're an idiot. Star Wars was not a sleeper hit. It opened huge and lines ran around the block, longer than lines for the gas stations at the time of the OPEC crisis. It was not even shown on broadcast television until approximately 8 years later. This was before everyone had VCRS or anything, so it does not meet the original definition of sleeper, which you have totally screwed up.
Yeah, calling someone an idiot and then not signing your message, that's a way to be taken seriously. But anyway, it was true that 20th Century Fox was placing their faith on Damnation Alley while Star Wars received very little attention from them, only for them to have the exact opposite of their expectations to be met. The popularity of the movie alone doesn't make the difference, it's whether it's expected or not. Takeshi357 16:49, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree with the statement that the definition is wrong. A dictionary definition is Informal: a person or thing that achieves success after an initial period of obscurity. By the way; the crucial bit is the 'initial period of obscurity'.

Also, even by the definition given in the article, the choice of There's Something About Mary is wrong. It did not open small, it opened at 2186 screens and was number 4 on it's first weekend and continued to stay in the top 5 for 11 weeks. A sleeper hit it was not.

I added books to the list of examples and also a link to an interesting article by Mathew Gladwell. Probably someone with a background in publishing could add some more information.

I kind of want to contest the way sleeper hit is used for video gaming. In my experience a sleeper hit in the game world referred more to a great game that went compleatly under the radar of the general gaming public. Opinions?

It is incorrectly used as that definition for video games on gaming message boards. The correct word to use for those kind of games is "underdog".

Dark Horse is another term for that scenario, IIRC. --JD79 13:18, 9 September 2006 (UTC)


♦Wouldn't Grand Theft Auto 3 count as a sleeper hit? The first two GTA's didn't really get any sort of recognition, then all of a sudden GTA3 comes and it's wildly successful, with explosive sales. The rest is history. Hitmaker 19:23, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

I take exception with Austin Powers being on the "sleeper list"; I remember lots of hype before it came out and the theatres being packed within a few weeks. Is there some resarch to back this up? Also, in the style of The Shawshank Redemption, the films Memphis Belle and A River Runs Through It seemed to grow much more popular through endless cable TV airings that through box office success. --JD79 13:18, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

i don't belivee that Juno should be on the sleeper list, either. That movie was hyped, hyped, and more hyped before its release. It is fairly evident that the studio that backed it expected it to be quite popular, hence the promotion involved. 75.65.0.31 (talk) 06:47, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Trimmed the list of film examples

The list of films was very long, and there were many disputes as to what exactly comprises a "sleeper hit". In keeping with Wikipedia policy, only films that have been described as sleeper hits by reputable sources (not blogs) should qualify. I did a bit of googling and found some references, which I added to the list. I removed some items that I couldn't find sources for. These can be added back later if someone finds a proper source has been that refers to them as "sleepers" or "sleeper hits":

Fionah 15:13, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] human sleeper (i.e. a NFL draft candidate)

The New York Times used the term very clearly in this context, and its one I've heard elsewhere: article here. I think the context should be added (for people/candidates in general). --Bobak 16:22, 26 April 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Redefinition for gaming/other forms.

After thinking about this a bit and reading a bit I've noticed a couple issues. First video gaming uses the term sleeper hit, as for underdog or dark horse, neither term is particularly used. However "sleeper hit" in gaming doesn't refer to any true marker of success. I don't have a perfect definition but most of the time sleeper hits are games that don't have large marketing budgets but come out with an above average game that most people find unique. An example of this is Disgaea. While it's not on the same level as larger games, and got a minor amount of press about it at the time it came out, it's highly praised by those who have used it.

This is however different from cult followings (though sleeper hits tend to garner those as well). It's quite different than movies, where the marker of success is usually in pure sales as games tend to care more about return on investments, than total sales. Success metrics for games are more based on a return on investment (so a game doesn't have to sell at the level of Halo or Half life to be considered successful.)

The problem is this is a widely accepted fact, not something citable or that has a meaning discussed, but the term carries a weight with it so it's a bit harder to add to the article, however the term is used in discussions of video games as much if not more than movies, so I think there should be at least a discussion of a proper definition of the term in regards to gaming.Kinglink (talk) 09:07, 26 December 2007 (UTC)