20 years ago, before streaming services and the MCU, a tiny independent movie could become a cultural phenomenon. These days, it generally takes a major star to help a small film break big —Longlegshas become the most successful ‘indie’ of 2024, but even that had Nicolas Cage and a $10 million budget. Two decades ago, though, a little film could strike like lightning out of nowhere, and the next thing you know, it’s everywhere. That’s what happened with the great 2004 comedy,Napoleon Dynamite, which is reminding us of better times with its 20th anniversary this year.Now, we have the opportunity to experience it all again and relive that lightning, not just together but also with its stars.
As part of the ongoing20th anniversary celebration of the release ofNapoleon Dynamite, fans will be able to watch the iconic film in a livestream along with its actors — Jon Heder (Napoleon), Efren Ramirez (Pedro), Aaron Ruell (Kip), Shondrella Avery (Lafawnduh), and Trevor Snarr (Don), with a special appearance by writer Jerusha Hess. In this first-of-its-kind livestreamed presentation,fans of the beloved film can watch along live with the actors on Aug. 22 as they reminisce about their experiencesand behind-the-scenes stories while the entire movie plays. A live chat will enable fans to comment and ask questions. The livestream WatchAlong will be followed by a post-screening conversation.
The WatchAlong will last about three hours and is available in the US and Canada, and tickets are $15 USD.You can watch it on View Slipstream here, where more information is available. Just remember,it’s only going to happen once — on Thursday, Aug. 22, at 6:30 pm PST.
Event organizers are now rallying the internet to come together and support the #MillionTicketMission and make theNapoleon DynamiteWatchAlong screening an internet sensation. Inspired by the 2019 @world_record_egg challenge, the goal of this challenge is to sell one million tickets to the reunion and WatchAlong screening.A portion of all proceeds will go to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer / LA Loves Alex’s Lemonade. Check out the actors' announcement video below and find out why this is a must-see event.
What Is Napoleon Dynamite & How Did It Blow Up So Big?
If you somehow haven’t heard of the pop culture explosion that wasNapoleon Dynamite, you’re able to read the synopsis below:
“In small-town Preston, Idaho, eccentric and socially awkward teenager Napoleon Dynamite is put under the care of his strangely nostalgic uncle, Rico, after his grandmother is injured in an accident. With no safe haven at home or at school, Napoleon befriends the new kid in town, Pedro, a morose Hispanic boy who speaks little English. Together, perhaps in an effort to become more popular or just distract from their own ennui, the two launch a campaign to elect Pedro as class president.”
Napoleon Dynamite
The film, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared,premiered at the Sundance Film Festivalon Jun 21, 2025, and Fox Searchlight Pictures picked it up and began releasing it in US theaters in June of that year. It was a relatively small rollout for a small film (Napoleon Dynamitehad a budget of just around $400 thousand and had a 23-day production). Jon Heder told The Washington Post, “The crazy thing is we were only ever in about 700 theaters, but it went on for months.”
Word of mouth gradually spread, largely thanks to a marketing campaign which took the film to colleges across the country. Young people had rarely seen anything so quirky but also honest and surprisingly sweet. Big Hollywood stars likeTom Cruise and Faye Dunaway sang its praises, and Dave Letterman shouted it out(Jon Heder would later come on Letterman’s show in-character).
Napoleon Dynamite Cast Hypothesize Where Their Characters Are 20 Years Later
Napoleon’s paying child support, Uncle Rico owns a backyard wrestling federation, and Pedro still has political aspirations.
Napoleon Dynamite Captured the Feeling of 2004
By August and September,Napoleon Dynamitewas already tethered to the cultural zeitgeist, with high school and college students quoting it in the hallways and wearing simple “Vote for Pedro” T-shirts.Even the kids who probably would’ve bullied Napoleon in real-life flocked to the film. In a sense, you could say it created a kind of ‘nerd chic’ and helped geekier subjects become more acceptable and popular at the box office, paving a brick or two on the path to superhero cinema dominance.
Napoleon Dynamiteended up making more than 100 times what it cost, earning more than $44 million at the box office in 2004 dollars, not to mention the massive success of its merchandising. There was even an attempt at an animated TV series of the same name, but it’s very difficult to capture lightning in a bottle. And that’s kind of how 2004 felt, at least looking back on it now. It felt like one of the last years when something small and independent could cross over and become big in the mainstream. 2004 was special, andNapoleon Dynamitewas emblematic of that.
10 Life Lessons We Can Learn From Napoleon Dynamite
If one watches Napoleon Dynamite just once all the way through there are a lot of subtle nuances one may overlook.
The film fit perfectly alongside iconoclastic, independently-minded 2004 filmslikeEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sideways, Before Sunset, Garden State,andThe Life Aquatic. This, along with a great surge of sounds from the indie or alternative music scenes — debut albums from TV on the Radio, Arcade Fire, The Killers, The Futureheads, Keane, Kasabian, The Go! Team, and Franz Ferdinand, plus new albums from The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, Joanna Newsom, Broken Social Scene, Modest Mouse, of Montreal, Devendra Banhart, The Magnetic Fields, and Wilco. It all just made sense, and revisitingNapoleon Dynamitenow brings back how 2004 really felt.
Related:The 15 Best Movies of 2004, Ranked
Join the Napoleon Dynamite Team in Celebrating Their 20th Anniversary
The 20th anniversary ofNapoleon Dynamitewas kicked off at the beginning of 2024 with a very appropriate screening at Sundance, where a new 4K restoration of the film was shown. Here’s what Jared Hess said at the time (viaIndieWire):
“Returning to Sundance withNapoleon Dynamitefeels like a homecoming. When it premiered at the festival 20 years ago, we never anticipated the incredible reaction it would receive …It’s always been a very personal film for Jerusha and me, so the love affair it’s had with audiences all these years continues to delight us.To commemorate its 20th anniversary, we are thrilled to screen this newly restored version … The restoration team did an amazing job bringing to life new details from the original film’s negative that we’d never seen before. We can’t wait to share it!”
The anniversary celebrations continued from there (watch the viral Instagram post above). The film’s actors and producers, and Jared & Jerusha Hess, have spoken to numerous outlets and podcasts, and have been attending various live screenings of the film.Napoleon Dynamitewas screened on the roof of a New York high school by Rooftop Films, at this year’s Netflix Is a Joke festival in Los Angeles, and everywhere in between (Colorado, Wisconsin, Oregon, Missouri, Florida et cetera).
Every Jared Hess Movie, Ranked
There’s a lot buzz surrounding Jared Hess' upcoming Minecraft movie, but before that film releases, let’s take a look at the directory’s filmography.
The Livestream Will Let You Hear Hilarious Stories Like This
Just about everyone involved inNapoleon Dynamitealso did an oral history of the movie back in June withThe Washington Post, where they shared different memories and moments of pride. One of the most impactful comes from actor Jon Gries (The White Lotus), who starred as the overly nostalgic Uncle Rico. Gries says:
I met five or six guys from a squad in Fallujah who said that when they were in Iraq, they had only one DVD and it was Napoleon Dynamite. They said, “We could laugh at night after seeing the horrors that we saw during the day.”
Thelma the Unicorn Directors Jared Hess & Lynn Wang Hit the Comedy Jackpot
Jared Hess and Lynn Wang discuss how finding Brittany Howard brought Thelma the Unicorn to life.
Another excellent tidbit comes from Jared and Jerusha Hess, as they recount what may have been the worst day of production. “I think day one was the most disastrous,” says Jared. “A total train wreck on every levelbecause so much of Jon Heder’s character is based around his perm and his hair looking good. We had already done a test run a year earlier when we made the short film. And so when we’re like, ‘Jon, go to the same [student-run] Hair Academy and get your hair permed again.'”
“We couldn’t afford a real perm,” adds Jerusha. Jared continues:
And [Jon] calls us the day before we started shooting. He’s like, “Uh, I just got the perm. It doesn’t look the same, though.” He shows up at our house like Shirley Temple. I mean, they were big, loose curls.
“We called every hairdresser in that town,” explains Jerusha. “We’re like, “Hey, does anyone have a perm kit in their house?” And we found one. We re-permed his hair and just prayed so hard that his hair wouldn’t fall out.So we didn’t wash it the whole 23 days. By the end, his head smelled so gross.” Heder, meanwhile, was hilariously oblivious to it all, saying, “I didn’t really notice. It was so hot and we were shooting in cow pastures. The moon boots were worse. They smelled like a swamp.”
You can expect more of those kinds of delightful, surprising, and even poignant details during the livestreamed WatchAlong with theNapoleon Dynamitecaston Thursday, Aug. 22.Be sure to RSVP hereand bring some friends — some of the proceeds go to a great charity for childhood cancer, so you can have a once-in-a-lifetime fan experience while also contributing to people who need help. There’s no better way to celebrate 20 years ofNapoleon Dynamitethan that.
