In baseball, everyone stands in awe of a slugger who can change the face of a game with one marvelous swing of the bat.
It’s no different in Hollywood, where the occasional grand slam can erase the memory of a dozen strikeouts.
Last summer, while home runs were flying out of major league ballparks at a record pace, such expensive “event” films as “Independence Day,” “Twister,” “Mission: Impossible,” “The Nutty Professor” and “The Rock” likewise were leaving their mark on box offices here and abroad. Almost simultaneously, though, highly touted losers like “The Cable Guy,” “Striptease,” “Multiplicity,” “The Fan,” “Chain Reaction” and “Matilda” got an early trip to the showers.
Just as a baseball team’s lineup needs to include some reliable singles hitters among the big sticks, the major studios are constantly on the lookout for less splashy pictures that might exceed modest financial expectations. Around here, they’re called sleepers.
“Basically, a sleeper is a film that comes out of left field,” explained Leonard Klady, who crunches the box-office numbers for Variety. “It shouldn’t have big stars, or be based on anything. There would be low or modest expectations for it in the marketplace, and it would do at least two or three times the business it was expected to do.”
As a recent example, Klady cited “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” the sentimental story of a high school music teacher who’s perhaps a bit too single-minded in his work.
“Richard Dreyfuss is not a major star anymore, but the picture did more than $80 million, when Disney probably was expecting $25 million,” he said. “A sleeper will open bigger than anyone expected, but they also tend to gain a certain kind of momentum by staying in the marketplace week after week.”
Mark Gill, president of marketing for Miramax Films, saw the largely unheralded chiller “Scream” break out of the pack late last year. It grossed $90 million in its initial run and was brought back last month for an encore.
“That would be a studio’s idea of a sleeper,” he suggested.
For an independent film to break through during the busy holiday periods, it must benefit from positive word-of-mouth and good reviews. Distributors of art-house pictures have much less money to spend on advertising.
“This only works with the kind of quality pictures people enjoy discovering on their own, like `Il Postino’ and `Smoke,’ ” Gill says. “Last summer, `Trainspotting,’ `Emma,’ `Lone Star’ and `Welcome to the Dollhouse’ were good examples of sleepers.
“They’d start in a couple of theaters, then expand to a couple of more. They didn’t open on 1,000 screens, which is what the studios are very good at.”
This year, there will be precious little room for sleepers at the local megaplex. Big-budget pictures once again dominate the release schedule. What will it take for a small picture to surprise everyone by breaking through the clutter?
James G. Robinson, founder of Morgan Creek, is counting on America’s youth to light a fire under his company’s coming-of-age yarn “Wild America” when it opens on July 2. The adventure stars Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Devon Sawa and Scott Bairstow as brothers who set out — against their father’s wishes — to photograph endangered animals. On their cross-country journey, which is set at the dawn of Flower Power, they encounter several eccentric outdoorsmen and some ornery beasts, while also learning some powerful lessons about life.
Made for a frugal $10 million, “Wild America” will be distributed by Warner Bros. to 2,000 theaters. The movie is scheduled to face off with “Men in Black,” “Out to Sea” and, if it is completed on time, “Titanic.”
Some might consider it a suicide mission, even if Robinson doesn’t.
“I picked out the date back in January,” he said during an interview in his office on the Warner Bros. lot. “I didn’t know it before I sat down to make this movie, but these boys are considered hunks by 10- to 14-year-old girls. And girls that age are very loyal to their stars.
“I also think it’s going to work for boys, because the characters are just regular guys.”
The “Wild America” campaign officially was launched last November with a teaser trailer that accompanied “Space Jam” and another preview that began running in theaters in early April. In the weeks before the film debuts, a more traditional — and costly — media advertising campaign will commence.
Then there are the tie-ins with Bonne Bell cosmetics, Kodak, Planet Hollywood and TBS Superstation. Plus, “we’re making up 35,000-40,000 T-shirts for radio giveaways, and we’ll advertise on MTV and Nickelodeon,” said Robinson. “We’ll give away 500,000 buttons, 100,000 posters, tattoos, and premiere the film in Westwood in three theaters.”
Still, if “Wild America” is going to make it as a sleeper success, it will have to fight off a ton of hype. “Hercules,” “Batman and Robin” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding” will still be in theaters, and teen favorites Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith could both be on display on July 2 in “Titanic” and “Men in Black.”
“The kids are out of school,” Robinson counters. “They probably will want to see `Men in Black,’ but most of the other films will play older. I’m betting kids will go to see our movie during the week.”
If “Wild America” can hang in there, it won’t face much competition for young viewers until July 18, when “George of the Jungle” is released. “Leave It to Beaver” and “Mortal Kombat 2” don’t open until Aug. 1.
Adults will have more choices, although most involve explosions and car crashes. This works to the benefit of art houses when it comes to sleepers?
Miramax’s Gill thinks his company has a trio of pictures — “Brassed Off,” “Shall We Dance” and “Mrs. Brown” — that fit the mold of last year’s “Lone Star” and “Emma.”
“They’re the complete antidote to `Batman’ and `Con Air,’ ” quipped Gill, who admitted that he’s likely to see those action pictures, too.
“Brassed Off” plays a bit like “Hoosiers” and other feel-good films. Starring Ewan McGregor and Peter Postlethwaite, the movie is about a British town that faces extinction when the government decides to close its coal mine. The working-class residents rally behind its brass band, which is competing for the national title.
The quirky “Shall We Dance” follows an introverted Japanese businessman as he goes against convention by learning ballroom dancing. Watching his awkward progress and the camaraderie that develops among the classroom characters could make this film a winner.
Miramax also is bullish on the historical drama “Mrs. Brown,” set during the period when Queen Victoria is mourning the death of Prince Albert. The monarch (an austere Judi Dench) summons an old business acquaintance (a Highlander convincingly played by Billy Connolly) to help get her through this period, and a close relationship develops.
Rather than launch these pictures nationwide in hundreds of theaters on a single release date, Miramax will rely on word-of-mouth in major cities before moving out to the frontier. Because production, distribution and marketing costs are a fraction of those assumed by the major studios, there’s less pressure on these independent pictures to open big.
Orion’s quietly powerful “Ulee’s Gold” marks a return to form for Peter Fonda, who plays a Florida beekeeper haunted by his past and the misdeeds of his son and daughter-in-law. Along with his two grandchildren, the Vietnam vet must draw on old strengths when trouble comes knocking.
Another import that’s likely to raise eyebrows is “Twin Town,” which will remind viewers of “Trainspotting,” “Fargo” and even “Beavis & Butt-head.” Featuring degenerate brothers and an unmatched pair of corrupt cops, it is an outrageous study of revenge and class warfare in Swansea, Wales, a city Dylan Thomas called the “graveyard of ambition.”
“It’s not a black comedy exactly — well, maybe inky-blue black — but it sort of creates its own genre,” said Adriene Bowles, a marketing executive for Gramercy Films. “It’s not for the fainthearted. But there’s definitely an audience out there, as evidenced by the success of `Trainspotting’ and `Fargo.’ “
Whether any of these potential sleepers will have legs to stand on when Labor Day rolls around is very much open to question. But, then, unlike “Titanic,” they won’t have to gross at least $400 million just to break even.
Sometimes, small can be beautiful — and profitable.
