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. While met with mixed reviews, it had grossed $235 million worldwide.

Plot
Three years have passed and Ellenor was preparing for Graduation Day 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 as he cannot tolerate her selfish demeanor and her always getting her way any longer; Ellenor becomes heartbroken from his confession and spends the rest of her days depressed and upset. 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, Cecile's daughter, Agatha, wanders the streets after her father shoos her away. She bumps into the melancholy Ellenor, whom she comforts when the latter explains her diminished relationship with Lance and how her friend. Agatha is suddenly dragged away by her father and he casts a spell while her daughter's hand is held. Ellenor intervenes and tries to save her from him, unaware that he is her father. While tugging on Agatha, the three are whisked away by a fog of smoke. As the smoke clears, they find themselves in an alternate reality where their world has been changed to resemble a medieval setting. So not to have any witnesses, Cecile knocks out Ellenor with a hard kick and he flees with a worried Agatha grabbed by the wrist.

Waking up, she finds herself tended by her alternate parents, an English-born Anthony and Irish-born Gretchen who had a daughter that resembled her, but more portly, and her name was Elaine the Rebellious. Told about Elaine's life, she was a rebellious girl that was surly and tended to push people away who were concerned about her demeanor; including her love of her life, Lance the Kindhearted. Her death was unknown, but it was discovered by one of the townsfolk that she fell to her death. Fixated on her priority of finding Cecile, referred to him as King Cecile by her parents, she asks and gets their help to help her find him.

The next morning, they take her to Cecile. During their ride, Ellenor sees Yeoll with the medieval overhaul, run by King Cecile; which is the same Cecile from before. She spots the medieval counterparts of Darcey, Jane, her Knight School classmates and her boyfriend Lance, who mistake her as Elaine. Arriving, Ellenor storms into the castle and confronts him for what happened to Yeoll, to which Cecile reveals that with the help of Lord Snide's magical staff, he was able to shape the world into his image: a medieval town where everything is simplistic and pristine. During Cecile's monologue, Ellenor takes the staff and heads out one of the windows. She was unfortunately caught by the guards outside. Yet, she escapes from the guards by distracting them. Commandeering a stagecoach, which had Agatha in the back, Ellenor flees town. Little did she know, she lost the staff. Cecile sends out a search party to rescue Agatha and execute Ellenor.

Far out of town, Ellenor seeks Agatha's help. Looking back, she finds Agatha running back to Yeoll. Losing all hope, Ellenor cries in despair. Hearing the girl having a meltdown, Agatha returns and comforts her. Ellenor tells her about yesterday from her boyfriend dumping her to her universe altered and desperate to restore it. 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, consisting of the her friends' alternate counterparts, so to take the staff by force and hold off Cecile's army. Believing that she is Elaine the Rebellious back from the dead, Ellenor plays along with their assumptions so she can gain their trust. Meanwhile, Cecile is determined to have Ellenor executed to prevent her from re-altering the universe to its modern day, as he believes technology and several life events had changed the world for the worst.

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 Lance. Agatha asks Cecile that she 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 returns Agatha, Cecile, and herself back to their universe.

After returning, Ellenor destroys Snide's staff by breaking it in two to prevent any further mishaps. In retaliation, Cecile attacks and chases Ellenor across Yeoll, who finds herself cornered when she tried to take refuge in Knight School, which was closed. With the upper hand, Cecile grabs Ellenor by the neck and intends to get even with her, but was fortunately stopped by her friends and Agatha; whereas Ellenor kicks Cecile in the chest and shoves him off the school's steps, followed by a body slam. As Cecile is sent to the hospital from Ellenor's takedowns, she catches her friends and family up on what happened to her, much to their surprise and worry. Ellenor apologizes for her selfish demeanor and insecurities to the point where she becomes fine with being friends with Lance and Jane moving, but Lance says that he chose to give their relationship another chance.

A week after graduation, Agatha, scarred from her father's intentions, had moved to Yeoll, and had become adopted by Lance's family; 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 / Elaine the Rebellious
 * Ben Schwartz as Lance / Lance the Kindhearted
 * John Cleese as Gerald Reginald III / Alternate Reginald
 * Tom Hiddleston as Cecile, Reginald's old apprentice
 * Kelly Marie Tran as Agatha, Cecile's daughter
 * William Shatner as Anthony / Alternate Anthony
 * Jane Lynch as Gretchen / Alternate Gretchen
 * Avril Lavigne as Darcey / Darcia
 * Abby Elliott as Jane / Alternate Jane
 * Damon Wayans Jr. as Oliver Jade / Alternate Oliver
 * Seann William Scott as Andrew / Ander
 * Jerry Trainor as Troy / Alternate Troy
 * Chris Hardwick as Bill / William
 * 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 November 3, 2026, then on DVD and Blu-ray on December 8 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Both releases include two episodes from the HBO Max original series Back to Knight School, "Evan" and "Growing Student"; while the Blu-ray release includes a 20-minute short titled "Recorded Christmas", where Ellenor had accidentally left her phone recording the happenings of what goes on during Christmas 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 $235.2 million worldwide, with $115 million domestically and $119.1 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 HBO Max on May 18, 2028.

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