''Misery, Stand By Me, and The Shawshank Redemption are all big successes.''
Not quite.Shawshank tanked and only became famous in the years following the movie.All 4 movies[including dc]were hits with the critics and DB made 25 million though i'm unsure of how much it cost to make.
But moving away from the box office,I think the answer is pretty obvious.Dc been less famous than the rest has nothing to do with kathy bates. DC is more of a chick flick and having said that it does'nt appeal to all women like dirty dancing would.The themes[child abuse,domestic violence,the suffering of women,depression,feminism in a patriarchical society] in the film are quite dreary and heavy and do not appeal to a universal audience like the other 3 you mentioned.It's quite an adult film with acquired taste and not really a universally friendly movie,many would feel uncomfortable watching some of the scenes in it and just as uncomfortable discussing the films content with friends.
Misery and Stand by Me were both highly entertaining with all the right ingredients-action,comedy,violence,gore,suspense,drama... They are the kind of films men,women and young adults/teens and even kids love[i saw both when i was 9 with my brother and i loved them]. In other words there is something there for everybody in them and thus they became famous and love classics though stand by me would typically be more appealing to teens and younger audiences.They leave a good after taste in the viewers mouth as neither take themself too seriously and they are edge of the seat kinda movies that have you shouting at the screen at times.
As for The Shawshank,i don't really have to explain here.It was a rare masterpiece,its themes are universal and we can all understand and enjoy films like this when they rarely come along.
I hope that answers it.
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