Knight School II

Knight School II is a 2026 American animated action comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Conrad Vernon. It is the sequel to Cartoon Network Studios' Knight School (2023) and the second installment in the film series. The film stars Anna Kendrick, Ben Schwartz and John Cleese reprising their roles as Ellenor, Lance, and Gerald Reginald III; accompanied by Tom Hiddleston and Kelly Marie Tran. The sequel takes place three years later, with Ellenor about to graduate Knight School. Reginald's old apprentice Cecile, who arrives to Yeoll to pay Reginald a visit, wishes the world would be like the Middle Ages, which he gets by using Lord Snide's staff upon discovering it was magical and powerful, which Ellenor must rectify.

Knight School II released in theaters on July 3, 2026 to mixed reviews and grossed $101 million worldwide.

Plot
Three years have passed and Ellenor was preparing for Graduation Day 1 with the help of her old friends Darcey and Jane. Later that day, Jane tells the girls that he is moving in two weeks after graduation, much to Ellenor's dismay, to which Jane says that her parents had that choice and she had no say in it. To take her find off Jane moving, Ellenor goes to visit Lance for a date, where he declines and breaks up with her to not tolerate her selfish demeanor any longer since the day she defeated Wellington Snide 2 and she reveled in the fame she received; Ellenor becomes heartbroken from his confession and spends the rest of her days depressed and upset, in which Lance's parents noticed from above their balcony.

The following day, Cecile, Reginald's old apprentice, arrives to Yeoll to pay him a little visit. Reginald shows him every part of Knight School, ending with the "Artifacts" room where the Lord Snide's staff is placed. Told about its unlimited ability of magic, Cecile steals the staff after knocking Reginald out cold. Meanwhile, a depressed Ellenor is comforted by her family. Soon after, a fog of smoke spreads around Yeoll. As the smoke clears, they exit the house and find their street into a medieval village, to where they discover is Yeoll, having been altered to resemble a medieval setting, also effecting the citizens' clothing. Arriving at Knight School, now turned into a castle run by Cecile, Ellenor storms inside and confronts him for what happened to Yeoll, which Cecile reveals that Lord Snide's magical staff was able to shape the world into his image: a medieval town where everything is simplistic and pristine.

Ellenor subdues Cecile and heads out with the staff. Commandeering a stagecoach, which has Cecile's daughter Agatha inside, Ellenor flees town. Little did she know, she lost the staff during her escape. Cecile sends out a search party to rescue Agatha and execute Ellenor. Far out of town, Ellenor seeks Agatha's help, only finding Agatha running back to Yeoll. Losing all hope, Ellenor cries in despair; Agatha returns and comforts her after hearing her meltdown. Ellenor tells her about yesterday from her dissolved relationship with her boyfriend and one of her closest friends moving away to having her whole world altered. Agatha decides to help her, by manipulating her father due to his love and respect towards her. In case Cecile catches on to the plan, Ellenor forms an army with her friends Darcey and her Knight School classmates, so to take the staff by force.

Arriving back to Yeoll, Agatha enters the castle and claims to have escaped Ellenor's clutches. Outside, Ellenor keeps her army at bay as she keeps lookout with the help of Bill. Agatha asks Cecile that he take her back to the original universe as she misses her old life and her prized possessions. Before he could agree, he spots a shadow, then shoots a beam towards it, revealing it to be Ellenor. Exposed, Ellenor calls out her army to ambush Cecile, which results in them piling on him and pinning him down. With Cecile subdued, Ellenor takes the staff from him and reverses the spell.

After returning, Ellenor destroys Snide's staff by breaking it in two to prevent any further mishaps. In retaliation, Cecile grabs Ellenor by the neck and intends to suffocate her, but was fortunately stopped by her friends and Agatha, followed by Ellenor shoving him off the school's steps. As Cecile is arrested, Lance comes by after witnessing the event and is willing to give their relationship another chance after she risked her life. Ellenor then apologizes for her selfish demeanor and insecurities to the point where she becomes fine with being friends with Lance and Jane moving.

A week after graduation, Agatha, scarred from her father's intentions, had moved to Yeoll and had become adopted by Reginald; Ellenor's Knight School students had all transferred to Yeoll High, much to Ellenor's confusion; and as said, Jane had moved after graduation while keeping in touch with her friends. Arriving to Knight School, she finds it being renovated as Reginald had closed down the school and revamped it as the "Museum of Medieval History", to which Ellenor finds interesting. Reginald gives her a present before returning. Opening it, it was her sword from her first day, with a tag reading "To the first female student who saved our lives.", much to Ellenor's gratefulness.

Voice cast

 * Anna Kendrick as Ellenor
 * Ben Schwartz as Lance
 * John Cleese as Gerald Reginald III
 * Tom Hiddleston as Cecile, Reginald's old apprentice
 * Kelly Marie Tran as Agatha, Cecile's daughter
 * William Shatner as Anthony
 * Jane Lynch as Gretchen
 * Avril Lavigne as Darcey
 * Abby Elliott as Jane
 * Damon Wayans Jr. as Oliver Jade
 * Seann William Scott as Andrew
 * Jerry Trainor as Bill
 * Chris Hardwick as Troy
 * Jon Hamm as Myer
 * Leslie Mann as Hollie
 * Conrad Vernon as Principal Begley
 * Cedric the Entertainer as Mike
 * Cheri Oteri as Principal Wilson
 * Adam Pally as Whitey
 * Rob Riggle as Bob
 * Wendie Malick as Winnifred
 * Josh Gad as Gary
 * Pete Browngardt as Jim

Development
The film's original story focused on Ellenor and Lance going to London with Reginald after Ellenor's feat with Wellington Snide was in the news. Originally, its title was simply Knight School 2, before the '2' was replaced with a Roman numerals variant of it due to changing the premise.

Harry Gregson-Williams returned as composer without John Powell.

Casting
As the cast from the first film was hired to reprise their roles, the roles of Cecile and Agatha were given to Tom Hiddleston and Kelly Marie Tran, respectively.

The original cast for the sequel consisted of Julie Andrews, Julia Sawalha, Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Tudyk, and Rebel Wilson. Earlier choices were Alec Baldwin, Chloe Bennet, and Lake Bell.

Animation
Like the last film and the preceded series, Mercury Filmworks was hired to animate the film, with additional computer-generated contents by Framestore.

Theatrical
Knight School II was released in the United States on July 3, 2026.

Home media
Knight School II was released by on digital on September 8, 2026, then on DVD and Blu-ray on September 29 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Both releases include two episodes from the Cartoon Network original series Back to Knight School, "Evan" and "Growing Student". The Blu-ray release includes a 20-minute short titled Recorded Graduation, where Ellenor had accidentally left her phone recording the happenings of what goes on during her graduation party throughout in her home; it features Ellenor's family (including Uncle Bob; voiced by Rob Riggle, and Aunt Winnifred; voiced by Wendie Malick), Lance's family, Darcey, the Knight School students, and Agatha.

Box office
The film grossed $101.3 million worldwide, with $47.3 million domestically and $54 million from international markets.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 104 critics gave the film a positive review, and an average rating of 5.7/10. The critics consensus reads: "Its story is contrasting to the last movie's, but its simplicity won't save Knight School II from its slow turn." Metacritic assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed-or-average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Television specials
The sequel was followed by a Halloween television special, entitled Fright Knight School, aired on TBS on October 29, 2026. Another special, entitled Promenade, was released on TBS on May 18, 2028.

Prequel
A prequel film, Yeoll High, was released on September 22, 2028, and focuses on Ellenor, Darcey and Jane.