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Comment by decimalenough

19 days ago

Quite a few classics like this and "Office Space" were box office flops that were resurrected by the magic of VHS/DVD. Yet those are gone too. Is there any room left for the "sleeper hit" in 2026?

15 comments

decimalenough

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troupo  19 days ago

There's no space left for actual hits. Movies aren't even given proper theatrical releases. One week at the theater then straight to streaming, or even simultaneous theater and streaming releases.

  • tptacek  19 days ago

    Features are in decline and theater releases are doomed; they're in the agonal breathing stage already. But against that you have the rise of series, which arguably a better storytelling medium.

  • slumberlust  19 days ago

    Are you implying that movie theaters are a better experience than home theaters? I'd argue movie theaters dug their own graves with greed shovels.

    • troupo  19 days ago

      > Are you implying that movie theaters are a better experience than home theaters?

      I don't have an IMAX screen at home. I don't even have the smallest theater screen at home.

      Oh, and that "home theater"? Good luck getting the advertised 4k on it from any streaming platform, and very few will have a handy BluRay/Torrents set up at home. Neither do I have Dolby surround at home. Or a way to make the room fully dark.

      > I'd argue movie theaters dug their own graves with greed shovels.

      I seriously doubt that. Covid maimed theaters, and then streaming dealt the killing blow.

      3 replies →

robterrell  19 days ago

There's a pattern of movies flopping in theaters only to become top 10 on Netflix. It's very similar in many ways.

The difference is there was backend participation for VHS/DVD rentals... whereas Netflix is paying a one-time flat rate to acquire your flopped movie.

forrestthewoods  19 days ago

K-pop demon hunters.

  • haunter  19 days ago

    That's not a sleeper hit, it became the most watched animation ever on Netflix 1 month after the release and then the most watched film ever after 2 months.

    • forrestthewoods  18 days ago

      It depends on if you’re defining sleeper hit as “unhyped movie that blew up” or exclusively “movie that initially flopped but became popular down the road”.

      Generally people include the former in the sleeper hit category.

      For the latter I’m not sure about movies. But some shows have blown up after failing on one platform then moving to Netflix.