1990 Hit Film Named the No. 1 Most Unexpected Box Office Smash

Movies with an unusual premise and without big studio backing don't tend to get audiences into theater seats. However, occasionally these types of films do become unexpected box-office hits.

Colliderrecently published a list of 10 films that had unforeseen box office wins. The ranking featured movies like 2022'sEverything Everywhere All at Once, Saw from 2004, 2008's Mamma Mia!, the 2014 animated film, The Lego Movie, and Get Out, released in 2017.

The supernatural romance Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze,Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg, secured the list's top spot. According to Collider, the 1990 film, focusing on the ghost of Sam Wheat (Swayze), didn't have that big of a budget. However, it managed to gross a total of $505,703,557 worldwide, per Box Office Mojo.

The Director and Writer of 'Ghost' Shared Why They Believed the Film Ended up Being So Successful in a 1990 Interview

In a 1990 interview with Clive Barker, the film's director, Jerry Zucker, and its screenwriter, Bruce Joel Rubin, shared their thoughts about Ghost's being an unanticipated box office win. Zucker said that he believed audiences flocked to the movie because "it triggers a lot of emotions."

"It's a movie that makes people laugh and cry and scares them a little bit and makes them think. I think if you can do that and leave people feeling good at the end, which the movie does, you have a chance of a big hit. Other than that i've never been one to predict the box office," said Zucker in the 1990 interview.

Rubin, who won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Ghost in 1991, also said the film welcomes the audience to think about the afterlife.

"It postulates a universe in which life does not just start at birth and ends at death. But one has a spirit that somehow precedes your life and goes on beyond your life," said Rubin.

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This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 8:36 PM.