Summer sleeper? In a summer driven by sequels to franchises like "Spider-Man," "Shrek" and "Pirates," it's interesting to ponder if we'll have a sleeper hit and, if so, what it could be?
There was a time when sleepers were routine and you'd expect to find one hidden away somewhere in mid-to-late summer. By definition, a sleeper was a film without the kind of star elements that would typically make you anticipate big boxoffice action. In other words -- no superstars, no directors with blockbuster credits, no high profile producers and no brand name source material like best-selling novels. They simply were movies that caught on with audiences and they wound up doing really well because word got around that they were really special and you just had to see them.
Fifteen or 20 years ago, picking summer sleepers was a fun guessing game for Hollywood handicappers. If you check out the Filmmaker Flashbacks section of today's column you'll find that in my June 26, 1989 column I made the fearless prediction -- which, happily, turned out to be correct -- that "When Harry Met Sally" would be the summer of '89's sleeper hit. I was on something of a roll at the time, having (as I pointed out in that report) been right a year earlier in picking "A Fish Called Wanda" to be the summer of '88's likely sleeper.
But picking sleepers back then was a lot easier than it is today. The marketplace has changed tremendously since 1989 and not only is there much more product competing for moviegoers' time and money now, but there's no certainty that any small film is going to be able to drum up the kind of business that would entitle it to be called a sleeper. This summer is more likely to see much more in terms of high profile mega-blockbuster success given the strong line up of product on deck right now.
Thus far, of course, we've seen spectacular presummer ticket sales for the third Spidey and Shrek episodes, both of which exceeded the wildest opening weekend dreams their distributors say they could have had for them. And the "real" summer is actually just beginning Friday with Disney's Memorial Day weekend launch of its third "Pirates of the Caribbean" episode. Here, too, you can anticipate buckets of gold doubloons turning up at boxoffices around the world.
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When you take those 15 titles out of the summer marketplace, what's left that could emerge as a sleeper hit? Well, looking over the rest of the pack there are at least 10 interesting possibilities -- based on release schedules now circulating, but subject to change -- that might be able to fill the bill. As a group, thanks to their stars, filmmakers or subject matter they look like they have the potential to appeal to a large enough core audience to get word of mouth started. Moreover, most of these titles are targeted to young adults, the best possible demo a would-be sleeper can appeal to. This is an audience that likes movies, spends time and money to see them, lives on the Internet, sends text messages around the clock and responds quickly to the buzz about what's "hot."
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(10) Fox Searchlight's R rated sci-fi fantasy "Sunshine" (summer undated as of now) is directed by Danny Boyle, director of the hit "28 Days Later," and stars Cillian Murphy ("28 Days Later"), Michelle Yeoh ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") and Chris Evans (Johnny Storm in "Fantastic Four" and the upcoming "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"). This is another great sounding sci-fi tale set 50 years in the future when the sun is dying and so is mankind. A spaceship carrying a crew of eight men and women is the only hope for the future, transporting a device to breathe new life into the sun. After unexpected problems in space, the crew finds itself fighting not only for their lives, but also for their sanity. With the right release date and marketing, "Sunshine" could shine brightly in the summer sleeper skies.
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