There was a brief moment in American history where everyone thought Jon Heder was the next big thing - and it was a pretty strange time in general. You know, back when adding Shaggy to a song was a guaranteed way to turn it into a hit. In 2004, an indie comedy called Napoleon Dynamite was released - and it was frickin' sweet lightning in a bottle: an ultra low budget movie that made back over a hundred times its budget, and it had audiences around the world laughing until their lips hurt real bad. The star was the relatively unknown Heder, who, with his lanky presence, beyond-weird demeanor, and dance skills, captured hearts across the globe.
By the end of its theatrical run, the little engine that could of a movie had banked $46 million at the box office. Keep watching the video to find out how much money Jon Heder made for Napoleon Dynamite.
Yes, Napoleon Dynamite was the sleeper hit of the year, which is why it's so surprising to learn that according to News Australia, the lead actor initially only banked $1,000 for his role. Life is all about perspective, and while a cool grand is about a thousand dollars more than most people will ever get paid to pretend to be Napoleon Dynamite, it's also reportedly around half what the Dynamites themselves likely paid for Tina the Llama - according to estimates from Llamaseeker - and doesn't even approach covering the cost of a liger.
A thousand bucks is barely pocket change compared to the reported $17 million that Tobey Maguire made to reprise the role of Spider-Man that same year, according to Variety.
But don't feel too bad for Heder. Eventually, he renegotiated his contract to include a piece of all the action. And what he didn't make in an up-front paycheck, he more than made up for with the career that he piggybacked off of his success. While he never hit superhero level stardom, Heder still managed to rock a Hollywood presence that most people never get to see up close. In the years following his breakout performance, he starred alongside Will Ferrell in 2007's figure skating comedy Blades of Glory and appeared in the Rob Schneider movie The Benchwarmers. Heder has performed in over 70 projects over the last fifteen years, including recent recurring voice work on the animated series Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
The rest of the Napoleon Dynamite crew has done just fine as well. Efren Ramirez, the actor who played Pedro, has racked up several dozen more acting credits, in addition to forging some pretty tight bonds with industry executives - including Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess. Ramirez told Rolling Stone,
"If Jared called me up and wanted me to dress up as a gorilla in a tutu, I'd do it."
Tina Majorino, who played Deb, went on to appear in numerous television shows, including The Deep End and Grey's Anatomy. Fans of more cringe-tastic comedy will know that Sandy Martin, the actress who played Kip and Napoleon's grandma, plays Mac's mom on the long running FX series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Rex of Rex Kwon Do, Diedrich Bader, is basically everywhere, including as a regular on ABC's American Housewife.
And for the sentimental fan, it's worth mentioning that the whole crew got back together for 2012's short lived Napoleon Dynamite animated series.
As for any other adventures for the students from Preston, Idaho, the future is murky. While fans of the original movie have been chomping at the bit for another installment for more than a decade, a number of road blocks have popped up in the last few years. The Napoleon Dynamite television series was met with a lukewarm reception, lasting just six episodes before having its plug unceremoniously pulled. There was also a lawsuit between Fox and the filmmakers filed in 2011 in which Napoleon Pictures sued over the profits from the home video release of the film. An icy working relationship with the studio and a perceived lack of interest from the public makes a sequel difficult to spot with even the thickest pair of nostalgia glasses.
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