2004 film by Jared Hess
Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 American independent coming-of-age comedy film directed by Jared Hess, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the titular character, a nerdy high-school student who deals with several dilemmas: befriending an immigrant who wants to be class president, awkwardly pursuing a romance with a fellow student, and living with his quirky family.
The film was Hess' first full-length movie and is partially adapted from his earlier short film, Peluca (2002). Napoleon Dynamite was acquired at the Sundance Film Festival by Fox Searchlight Pictures, which partnered with Paramount Pictures and MTV Films for the release. It was filmed at Preston High School and different areas in Franklin County, Idaho, in the summer of 2003. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2004. Most of the situations in the movie are loosely based on the life of Jared Hess. The film's total worldwide gross revenue was $46.1 million. The film has since developed a cult following and was voted number 14 on Bravo's 100 funniest movies.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.