Movies like Saw, The Lego Movie, and even Titanic defied expectations to become genuine box-office sensations.

There are times when box office success is rather predictable, and often times they are simply not. While some films have a huge budget working for them and a built-in hype, others tend to quietly enter theaters with very minimal fanfare, and modest expectation-only to explode brilliantly into a global sensation. Whether through unique storytelling, word of mouth promotions, or sheer audience appeal, there exist quite a few films that became unexpected gems that prove great movies don't always follow a generic formula.