Who Knows What Sleeper Lurks . . .? : Movies: The fun in these shadowy hits is in the surprise. They are usually moderately budgeted films that open small and then benefit by good word of mouth.

A few months ago, the special-effects-laden action-comedy “The Mask” might have been considered a bona fide summer sleeper. But now the New Line Cinema film starring a green-faced Jim Carrey has developed such buzz in Hollywood that it is projected to be one of the summer’s hits.

“Speed,” starring Keanu Reeves as a SWAT cop trying to save a careening busload of passengers, also might have been considered a summer sleeper earlier this year. Now advance screenings have created positive word of mouth for the 20th Century Fox film, leaving some to question whether the term “sleeper” applies anymore.

The real fun in Hollywood these days is predicting what movies without big expectations will become box-office hits, along the lines of last summer’s surprise hits, “Free Willy” and “Sleepless in Seattle.”

If you listen to the studio publicity departments, you might believe anything other than their biggest summer films are potential sleepers.

Two baseball movies are now being hyped as summer sleepers: “Angels in the Outfield” with Danny Glover from Walt Disney/Caravan and “Little Big League” with Jason Robards from Columbia.

Another touted sleeper is “The Shadow,” a Universal film about the caped crime-fighter of radio lore, starring Alec Baldwin (“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows”).

But there are those who argue that all this talk about summer sleepers is often designed by studios to start an undercurrent of hype for certain films.

“They want you to believe that we made it for $80 million, but it’s a sleeper,” said entertainment attorney David Colden, adding sarcastically: “Yeah . . . “

John Krier, president of Exhibitor Relations Inc., a motion picture research company, is another who believes that when you look across the landscape of films this summer, most really don’t qualify as sleeper candidates.

How can “Angels in the Outfield” be considered a sleeper, Krier asked, when “exhibitors are expecting big things from it?”

And he doesn’t see how anyone can still say that “Speed” is a summer sleeper, no matter what Fox executives might say.

“A sleeper is something that is unheralded and then pops up all of a sudden,” Krier said. It has a low to moderate budget, no big stars, usually opens small, but benefits from good word of mouth and has “legs,” is either critically praised or trashed, has no heavy advance promotion by the studio, does more at the box office than is initially expected, and is usually not given the most advantageous playing time.

Some current examples, Krier said, would be “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” which came out of nowhere with comedian Carrey earlier this year to gross $70 million, and “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” which has grossed $34 million.

“The Mask” was a sleeper, he said, until exhibitors viewed the trailer at the ShoWest exhibitors’ convention in Las Vegas earlier this year and loved it. Now, it would be a shock if it didn’t succeed.

A film does not necessarily have to be devoid of stars to be considered a sleeper.

Take “Sleepless in Seattle,” which last year grossed $126 million for TriStar Pictures. “It was a movie which had a fairly well-known cast with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and, given its cost and the subject matter, would normally be expected to do about $20-$40 million at the box office,” said one source.

Some recent examples of sleepers, Krier said, include: “Cool Runnings” ($68 million), “Sister Act,” ($139 million), “The Crying Game” ($62 million), and “My Girl” ($58 million).

So, what are the real potential sleepers this summer?

If “Andre”--a film about a 9-year-old girl and a lovable seal--makes a big splash at the box office for Paramount Pictures, it would be a bona fide sleeper, just as the killer-whale movie “Free Willy” was for Warners when it grossed $77 million.

They might also include “Pulp Fiction,” the Quentin Tarantino paean to criminals starring John Travolta and Uma Thurman, which on Monday won the Golden Palm award at Cannes; the super-hero adventure comedy “Blankman” starring Damon Wayans; and, “Airheads,” a tale of an unknown band that takes a radio station hostage to get some airplay.

Or perhaps “Fear of a Black Hat,” a comedy rap version of “This Is Spinal Tap” from the Samuel Goldwyn Co. will be the real summer sleeper.

Or maybe it will be an Andrew Bergman movie from Castle Rock called “It Could Happen to You” (Nicolas Cage, Bridget Fonda).