Is Napoleon Dynamite 2 Happening, Or Should We Just Enjoy Some Tots Without Him?

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Everyone has a high school movie that rings uncomfortably true to their own experiences as a teenager. For some, it's a bitingly satirical portrait like "Heathers" or "Mean Girls," while for others, it's a brutally honest dramedy like "The Edge of Seventeen." But for me, there's only one film that really captures what my time was like as a non-Mormon attending a predominantly Mormon high school in a small Utah town in the early 2000s, and that's "Napoleon Dynamite." True, writer/director Jared Hess' 2004 cult hit takes place in the filmmaker's hometown of Preston, Idaho, but ... well, let's just say that if you know anything about small-town Utah and Idaho Mormon culture, then you know they weren't exactly worlds apart when the film was made.

I was fortunate enough to have graduated from high school literal weeks before "Napoleon Dynamite" arrived, which spared me from having to listen to my classmates constantly yell "Your mom goes to college!" and "Idiot!" at one another or go around wearing "Vote for Pedro" t-shirts. (From what I've been told, the students at my high school ate the film up in the years right after I'd left.) By the time I sat down and properly watched the movie sometime later, I had enough distance from my teen years to be more amused than mortified by how much Napoleon's world looks and feels like the one I knew in my adolescence. I can only imagine that watching a sequel would be tantamount to attending a high school reunion (except I would actually be morbidly curious enough to do the former).

While 2024, which marked the film's 20th anniversary, came and went without any major updates on the status of "Napoleon Dynamite 2," it appears the sequel isn't dead just yet. Here's what we know at this juncture.

Time for a history lesson! "Napoleon Dynamite" was a key entry in the "quirky" indie scene of the aughts, along with movies like "Garden State" and "Little Miss Sunshine." These films tended to share many of the same qualities, from their focus on specific small-town cultures to their peculiar styles of comedy and overly idiosyncratic characters. Jared Hess would carry this general approach over to his subsequent work on films like "Nacho Libre," "Gentleman Broncos," and "Masterminds" over a decade after scoring his breakout success and well after the larger indie-quirk movement had fallen out of fashion. This is also part of why Hess' films have seen increasingly diminishing returns since "Nacho Libre," both financially and in terms of their critical appraisal ("A Minecraft Movie" being the major exception to this rule).

As for Napoleon himself, actor Jon Heder (who collaborated with Hess on the black-and-white short film that inspired "Napoleon Dynamite," "Peluca," while they were in college), he briefly enjoyed a period of success playing "Napoleon types" in comedies like "The Benchwarmers" and "Blades of Glory" in the '00s. Heder would eventually reprise his career-making role in the exceptionally short-lived "Napoleon Dynamite" animated series, which only aired six episodes in 2012 before being pulled by Fox. However, in spite of this, Heder took to the art of voice acting and has since carved out a nice career lending his vocals to a wide variety of cartoon series (ranging from "The Legend of Korra" to "Star vs. the Forces of Evil" and "Pickle and Peanut").

Basically, what I'm getting at is that there wasn't much demand for more "Napoleon Dynamite" for a hot minute. But in the wake of the film's 20th anniversary, there's now a buzz in the air, and nostalgia is at an all-time high, so we may yet get to see more of Napoleon's flippin' sweet dance moves soon enough.

Despite being the brainchild of two guys who went to Bringham Young University, "Napoleon Dynamite" isn't actually a Mormon film. That said, it is the type of family-friendly film that most of the Mormons I went to high school with would've felt comfortable watching, which also makes it the kind of movie that more religiously conservative parents would feel comfortable showing their kids. 

"There's no expletives, there's no cussing [...] so this is a film that grandparents introduce their grandchildren to; families can sit together and watch and enjoy [it]," as Pedro actor Efren Ramirez noted in a 2022 interview with Canton Repository, commenting on the film's enduring popularity. Ramirez also teased the possibility of "Napoleon Dynamite 2" during the interview:

"Throughout the years, there were talks about doing a prequel and doing a sequel [...] and I don't think we're in that stage of having to do a prequel anymore. It all depends, because if you do a sequel, it's got [to] support the story, and it's got to continue on like what would actually happen."

Notably, when asked if a sequel was more or less likely to happen, Ramirez dodged the question. "Um, uh, legally, all I can say is it is up in the air," he laughingly replied. Then, in 2024 (a year in which the "Napoleon Dynamite" cast went on tour to celebrate the film), Ramirez gave a similar statement, telling ComicBook.com, "Everyone wants a sequel. And I can say this, legally, that the door's not closed yet."

As for Heder, he's also shown interest in returning to the "Napoleon Dynamite" universe. During an appearance at Steel City Con in January 2023, the comedian remarked, "I don't think the book of Napoleon is closed forever. I honestly think there's gonna be something — whether it's a sequel, or a TV show, or another animated [show]."

It's worth recalling that "Napoleon Dynamite" was released theatrically by Fox Searchlight Pictures, which means it now falls under the Disney umbrella — and "we know how Disney feels about cashing in on everything that's ever been made," as Heder put it during his Steel City Con appearance. But where the original film was very light-hearted, Heder feels a follow-up about a middle-aged Napoleon would have to start out in a darker place. In his own words:

"Part of the charm of Napoleon is the innocence of youth. They're in high school, they don't have any real responsibility or accountability too much, it's all coming of age. Napoleon today would be: he's entered the workforce, he's got responsibility, he's paying for maybe one or two alimonies, child support for one of them."

By pure coincidence (or is it?), Ramirez also pitched a version of "Napoleon Dynamite 2" where Napoleon begins in a bad place during his interview with Canton Repository. While Ramirez envisioned Pedro himself as being a happily married family man with an eye on running for city councilman, he suspected Napoleon "is probably dealing with certain kinds of struggles, so it's Pedro, as well as his uncle and a few other (people) who are trying to help Napoleon, and their kids try to acclimate themselves into a better way of life."

Truth be told, when you put Heder and Ramirez's comments together, their idea for "Napoleon Dynamite 2" sounds a lot like the mostly excellent "Bill and Ted Face the Music," itself a rare exception to the rule that legacy comedy sequels tend to be pretty terrible. Ugh, don't make me talk myself into wanting to actually see this thing, gosh!

Now that we've firmly established that both Heder and Ramirez are ready and willing to come back for "Napoleon Dynamite 2," what about the rest of the original film's actors? Many of them previously reprised their roles for the animated "Napoleon Dynamite" series, including Tina Majorino (Napoleon's romantic-y interest Deborah "Deb" Bradshaw), Aaron Ruell as Napoleon's brother Kipland or "Kip," Jon Gries as Napoleon and Kip's uncle Rico, Sandy Martin as Napoleon and Kip's grandmother Carlinda, and Diedrich Bader as the Taekwondo instructor Rex. On those grounds, one assumes they would be game to show up in a sequel, if only briefly.

Other supporting cast members, like Haylie Duff (who played the popular girl and Pedro's class president rival Summer Wheatley), could similarly turn up. It all depends on just how hard "Napoleon Dynamite 2" wants to smack down on the nostalgia button.

With the 20th anniversary of "Napoleon Dynamite" having come and gone with nothing to show for it, that could feel like the end of the line for a sequel. But in reality? Now might just be the perfect time for "Napoleon Dynamite 2" to finally come together. Indeed, in case you missed all the hullabaloo, rumors started circling that the film was officially moving forward based on an article by industry veteran and Puck reporter Matt Belloni in May 2025. In truth, however, Belloni's comments were taken wildly out of context, as noted in Relevant Magazine's investigation of the matter:

From what we can tell, the whole story started because last Friday, Puck reporter Matt Belloni shared in his weekly newsletter that with the 20th anniversary of "Napolean Dynamite" upon us this year, the rights to the movie are about to revert. He wondered if that would stir up any interest in a sequel, either from the original cast and crew or elsewhere if a new studio acquired it.

The reversion of the rights to "Napoleon Dynamite" does, in fact, make it more likely a sequel could finally move forward in the near future, especially in light of the response to the original rumors (which shows the demand is very much there for more of Napoleon and his friends). Bear in mind, though, this is also predicated on Hess returning to direct, as Heder and co. have made it clear they won't make the follow-up without him. The only problem? Given the massive success of "A Minecraft Movie," the filmmaker may be too busy taking another trip to the Overworld to focus his attention elsewhere for the next while. So, in the meantime, it's best that you keep those tots tucked away so they stay nice and warm in your pocket.