Napoleon Dynamite backdrop
Napoleon Dynamite movie poster

Napoleon DynamiteFollow

2004 • PG • 1h 36m • Comedy • Fox Searchlight Pictures

He's out to prove he's got nothing to prove.

🍅 72% 74% MC 64 LB 3.73 IMDb 7.0

Box office summary

Opening weekend
$117K
Limited · 6 theaters
Domestic total
$44.50M
Final
Worldwide total
$46.10M
$1.60M international
Domestic legs21.4x from $2.1M first wide weekend
Budget$400K
2004 rank#68
Compare with other movies

Cast & crew

Full Hess filmography
Jared Hess Jared Hess Director Jon Heder Jon Heder Starring Jon Gries Jon Gries Starring Efren Ramirez Efren Ramirez Starring Tina Majorino Tina Majorino Starring Diedrich Bader Diedrich Bader Starring
ScreenplayJared Hess, Jerusha Hess Produced byJeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt, Sean Covel CinematographyMunn Powell Music byJohn Swihart StudioFox Searchlight Pictures

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal
1 Jun 11-13 29 $116.7K — 6 $19,444 $116.7K
2 Jun 18-20 21 $193.5K +65.9% 18 $10,750 $404.1K
3 Jun 25-27 16 $388.1K +100.6% 73 $5,317 $953.2K
4 Jul 2-4 15 $513.4K +32.3% 142 $3,615 $1.7M
5 Jul 9-11 17 $554.8K +8.1% 141 $3,935 $3.0M
6 Jul 16-18 17 $750.5K +35.3% 179 $4,193 $4.2M
7 Jul 23-25 16 $1.6M +114.3% 389 $4,135 $6.5M
8 Jul 30-Aug 1 14 $1.4M −12.8% 423 $3,316 $9.3M
9 Aug 6-8 13 $1.7M +24.0% 546 $3,186 $12.5M
10 Aug 13-15 11 $1.8M +1.0% 563 $3,120 $15.9M
11 Aug 20-22 14 $1.8M +1.8% 577 $3,099 $19.1M
12 Aug 27-29 14 $2.1M +16.5% 706 $2,951 $22.4M
13 Sep 3-5 13 $2.8M +34.9% 886 $3,173 $26.3M
14 Sep 10-12 10 $2.5M −10.5% 921 $2,733 $30.3M
15 Sep 17-19 8 $2.3M −9.2% 1,024 $2,233 $33.3M
16 Sep 24-26 11 $1.8M −20.9% 1,027 $1,761 $35.7M
17 Oct 1-3 12 $1.4M −23.1% 855 $1,627 $37.6M
18 Oct 8-10 12 $1.1M −24.0% 715 $1,478 $39.1M
19 Oct 15-17 13 $883.8K −16.4% 619 $1,428 $40.4M
20 Oct 22-24 14 $619.6K −29.9% 479 $1,293 $41.3M
21 Oct 29-31 15 $410.8K −33.7% 387 $1,061 $41.9M
22 Nov 5-7 19 $367.7K −10.5% 271 $1,357 $42.4M
23 Nov 12-14 25 $235.1K −36.0% 196 $1,200 $42.8M
24 Nov 19-21 26 $168.0K −28.6% 170 $988 $43.1M
25 Nov 26-28 25 $242.0K +44.0% 193 $1,254 $43.4M
26 Dec 3-5 20 $192.8K −20.3% 222 $868 $43.7M
27 Dec 10-12 23 $143.1K −25.8% 218 $656 $43.9M
28 Dec 17-19 26 $124.8K −12.8% 177 $705 $44.1M
29 Dec 24-26 36 $41.1K −67.0% 141 $292 $44.3M
30 Dec 31-Jan 2 42 $47.9K +16.4% 114 $420 $44.4M
31 Jan 7-9 49 $39.7K −17.1% 80 $497 $44.5M
32 Jan 14-16 57 $19.3K −51.3% 46 $421 $44.5M
33 Jan 21-23 67 $8.1K −58.0% 30 $271 $44.5M
34 Jan 28-30 83 $4.0K −50.6% 11 $365 $44.5M
35 Feb 4-6 98 $2.1K −47.8% 6 $349 $44.5M
Charts show the first 10 weeks · the run above is the full record
Cumulative total$14.1M
Jul 26Aug 9Aug 10Aug 11Aug 12
Weekend grossWk 10 · $1.8M
$116.7K
$193.5K
$388.1K
$513.4K
$554.8K
$750.5K
$1.6M
$1.4M
$1.7M
$1.8M
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10
Theater countPeak 546 → 546 +0.0%
389 open546 now
Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · +1.0%
+65.9%
W1→2
+100.6%
W2→3
+32.3%
W3→4
+8.1%
W4→5
+35.3%
W5→6
+114.3%
W6→7
−12.8%
W7→8
+24.0%
W8→9
+1.0%
W9→10
Steepest −12.8%Biggest gain +114.3%

Profitability

Return on Budget
Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

Nacho Libre 2006 · Hess $80.2M Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back 2001 · Smith $30.1M Office Space 1999 · Judge $10.8M The Internship 2013 · Levy $44.7M Zoolander 2001 · Stiller $45.2M Year One 2009 · Ramis $43.3M

Box office comparisons

Build your own comparison

No head-to-head comparisons featuring Napoleon Dynamite yet — build one in seconds.

Build your own comparison →