# School of Rock
**School of Rock** is a 2003 American comedy film directed by [Richard Linklater](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-linklater), written by Mike White, and starring [Jack Black](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-black) as Dewey Finn, a failed rock guitarist who impersonates a substitute teacher at an elite private elementary school and turns his class of high-achieving students into a rock band entered in a local Battle of the Bands.[1](https://www.paramount.com/movies/school-of-rock) Produced by Scott Rudin for Paramount Pictures, it was released wide on October 3, 2003, earned about $131.9 million worldwide on a reported $20 million budget, and became the film that established Jack Black as a movie star.[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/School-of-Rock-%282003%29) • [3](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/fifteen-years-later-school-of-rock-still-earns-a-big-rocking-a/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | October 3, 2003 (wide), Paramount Pictures; PG-13 for some rude humor and drug references; 110 minutes[1](https://www.paramount.com/movies/school-of-rock) • [2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/School-of-Rock-%282003%29) |
| Principal cast | Jack Black (Dewey Finn), Joan Cusack (Principal Rosalie Mullins), Mike White (Ned Schneebly), Sarah Silverman (Patty), Miranda Cosgrove (Summer)[1](https://www.paramount.com/movies/school-of-rock) |
| Box office | $81,261,177 domestic, $50,683,495 international, $131,944,672 worldwide; opening weekend $19,622,714 in 2,614 theaters[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/School-of-Rock-%282003%29) |
| Critical reception | 92% Tomatometer (199 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 82, "universal acclaim," on Metacritic[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/school_of_rock) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/school-of-rock/critic-reviews/) |
| Honors | Golden Globe nomination and MTV Movie Award win (Best Comedic Performance) for Jack Black[3](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/fifteen-years-later-school-of-rock-still-earns-a-big-rocking-a/) |
| Music | Score by Craig Wedren; music supervisor Randall Poster[1](https://www.paramount.com/movies/school-of-rock) |
| Later versions | A 13-episode Nickelodeon television series with the same plot, produced by Linklater and Rudin, announced for spring 2015; an Olivier-winning stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber[6](https://time.com/3079359/school-of-rock-nickelodeon-tv-show/) • [7](https://web.library.yale.edu/film/notes/fn00058) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
Dewey Finn is a member of an unsuccessful hard-rock band who is thrown out after excessive guitar solos and an ill-fated stage dive, and who owes rent to his roommate Ned Schneebly, played by the screenwriter Mike White.[8](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2004/films/school-of-rock) • [9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/feb/06/school-of-rock-review) When a phone call meant for Ned offers a substitute-teaching job, Dewey fakes his identity and takes it. The class of ten-year-olds at the expensive prep school, where parents pay $15,000 a year in tuition, first performs anemic classical pieces; Dewey then assigns each child a role in a rock band, from keyboardist Lawrence (Robert Tsai) and lead guitarist Zack (Joey Gaydos) to drummer Kevin (Kevin Clark), backup singer Tomiko (Maryam Hassan), band manager Summer ([Miranda Cosgrove](https://www.edgepedia.org/miranda-cosgrove)), and costume designer Billy (Brian Falduto), and enters them in a local radio station's Battle of the Bands.[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/school-of-rock-2003)
The school's principal, Rosalie Mullins ([Joan Cusack](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-cusack)), is written against type for the genre: Roger Ebert, longtime film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times*, noted that she is not the standard obstructive authority figure but a good soul rumored to do a [Stevie Nicks](https://www.edgepedia.org/stevie-nicks) imitation after a few beers.[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/school-of-rock-2003) The parents' discovery of the deception threatens the plan, and the Battle of the Bands performance, with the angry parents in the front row, is the film's payoff.[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/school-of-rock-2003)
## Production
Mike White came up with the idea, drawing on the musical enthusiasm and silly behavior he saw in Jack Black, who lived next door to him; Black had appeared alongside others in White's 2002 comedy *Orange County*, which [Scott Rudin](https://www.edgepedia.org/scott-rudin) produced for Paramount. White approached Rudin with "this idea of Jack jamming around with a bunch of kids," with the renewed interest in the Langley Schools Music Project in mind. Rudin offered the project to Linklater, who initially turned it down, as had [Stephen Frears](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-frears) before him. *School of Rock* became Linklater's first work-for-hire directing job.[7](https://web.library.yale.edu/film/notes/fn00058)
Linklater selected child actors who were also skilled musicians and brought in [Sonic Youth](https://www.edgepedia.org/sonic-youth)'s Jim O'Rourke to give them their own rock school. The film was largely shot at [Staten Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/staten-island)'s Wagner College and [Long Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-island)'s Buckley Country Day School during winter break, and at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, New Jersey.[7](https://web.library.yale.edu/film/notes/fn00058) The American Film Institute catalog records the production as a United States and Germany co-production, with cinematography by Rogier Stoffers, editing by Sandra Adair, and music by Craig Wedren.[11](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62892-SCHOOL-OF-ROCK)
## Reception and box office
The film opened at number one with $19,622,714, 24.1 percent of its eventual domestic total, and finished with $81,261,177 domestically and $131,944,672 worldwide, 6.6 times its reported $20 million production budget.[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/School-of-Rock-%282003%29) [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) lists a higher budget of $35,000,000 and a slightly different worldwide figure of $131,098,967; the two databases disagree on the budget, and both figures are reported here as given.[12](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0332379.htm/)
Critics received the film warmly. Rotten Tomatoes records a 92% Tomatometer from 199 reviews, with the critics consensus crediting "Black's exuberant, gleeful performance";[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/school_of_rock) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 82 based on 41 reviews, in the "universal acclaim" band, with 37 positive, 4 mixed, and 0 negative.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/school-of-rock/critic-reviews/) Owen Gleiberman of *Entertainment Weekly* called it "the most unlikely great movie of the year," and Richard Corliss of *Time* wrote that "three of the hippest indie film princes make a perfect commercial comedy."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/school-of-rock/critic-reviews/) The *Guardian*'s Peter Bradshaw judged it a likeable, sweet-natured family movie rather than a pointed rock satire on the order of *Wayne's World* or *This Is Spinal Tap*, and credited that tone with its box-office success.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/feb/06/school-of-rock-review) Black received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical and won the MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance.[7](https://web.library.yale.edu/film/notes/fn00058)
In the United Kingdom, the [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) passed the 2003 cinema release with mild language and sex references; the 2023 twentieth-anniversary re-release was classified with moderate bad language, discriminatory terms, and rude humor.[13](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/school-of-rock-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zndg4mja)
## Legacy
The film's afterlife has been unusually broad. It led to a chain of "School of Rock"-branded extracurricular music schools, an Emmy-nominated Nickelodeon series, and an Olivier-winning stage adaptation by [Andrew Lloyd Webber](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrew-lloyd-webber).[7](https://web.library.yale.edu/film/notes/fn00058) In 2014 [Nickelodeon](https://www.edgepedia.org/nickelodeon) greenlit a 13-episode series with the same plot, produced by Linklater and Rudin and written by Jim and Steve Armogida, for a spring 2015 launch.[6](https://time.com/3079359/school-of-rock-nickelodeon-tv-show/) Twentieth-anniversary theatrical re-releases followed in the United Kingdom in September 2023 and New Zealand in December 2023.[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/School-of-Rock-%282003%29)
The film is also a fixture of scholarship on how cinema portrays music education. A 2007 study in *Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education* drew from *School of Rock* and the 2005 documentary *Rock School* a model for teaching rock music as praxis, connecting it to research on informal and personalized music learning in schools.[14](https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ804692) A 2025 [University of Melbourne](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-melbourne) study of more than 50 film music teachers cites Jack Black's character as an example of the passionate but unqualified music teacher, a portrayal its authors argue can feed misconceptions about the professionalism of music education.[15](https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/on-screen-music-teachers-are-hitting-a-bum-note)
## References
1. [School of Rock, Paramount Pictures](https://www.paramount.com/movies/school-of-rock)
2. [School of Rock (2003), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/School-of-Rock-%282003%29)
3. [Fifteen Years Later, School of Rock Still Earns A Big, Rocking "A+", Rotten Tomatoes Editorial](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/fifteen-years-later-school-of-rock-still-earns-a-big-rocking-a/)
4. [The School of Rock, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/school_of_rock)
5. [School of Rock critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/school-of-rock/critic-reviews/)
6. [Nickelodeon Green Lights School of Rock Series, Time](https://time.com/3079359/school-of-rock-nickelodeon-tv-show/)
7. [Film Notes: School of Rock, Yale Film Archive](https://web.library.yale.edu/film/notes/fn00058)
8. [School of Rock, International Film Festival Rotterdam](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2004/films/school-of-rock)
9. [School of Rock review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/feb/06/school-of-rock-review)
10. [School of Rock movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/school-of-rock-2003)
11. [School of Rock (2003), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62892-SCHOOL-OF-ROCK)
12. [School of Rock (2003), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0332379.htm/)
13. [School Of Rock, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/school-of-rock-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zndg4mja)
14. [Rock Goes to School on Screen, ERIC](https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ804692)
15. [On-screen music teachers are hitting a bum note, Pursuit, University of Melbourne](https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/on-screen-music-teachers-are-hitting-a-bum-note)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2003 to 2004 › Titles M to Y*
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