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If you thought Disney was the only movie studio making live-action remakes of classic, beloved animated films, think again. DreamWorks is entering the game with How to Train Your Dragon, a remake of the 2010 film of the same name. How to Train Your Dragon and the two sequels it spawned are among the most beloved movies DreamWorks Animation has ever made, both by fans and by critics, so perhaps it’s no surprise that they’re taking another swing at it with a Viking ax, attempting to retell the fantasy coming-of-age tale in a new medium. Before the movie takes flight in theaters next summer, here’s everything we know about How to Train Your Dragon. (The movie, that is; we have no idea how you’d train a real dragon if you found one.)
Who’s behind the film?
(Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images)
Dean DeBlois, who co-directed the original animated film with Chris Sanders and directed both sequels (How to Train Your Dragon 2 and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World) by himself, is also helming the live-action version. DeBlois is a veteran of animation; he co-directed Lilo & Stitch (which, incidentally, is also getting a live-action remake next year), has credits on The Lion King and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and he executive produced the recent DreamWorks Animation hit The Wild Robot. However, aside from some concert documentary films he made with the Icelandic band Sigur Rós, he doesn’t have much live-action experience. That’s not necessarily a problem — and indeed it might be better to have the person who understands the source material so intimately, rather than a live-action veteran who is unfamiliar with How to Train Your Dragon.
Nick Frost, one of the actors in the upcoming film, sang DeBlois’ praises in an interview with Collider, agreeing that the film “couldn’t be done without him.”
“He’s just f–king lovely. He’s funny, he’s clever, and he’s smart, and you’re just like, ‘Okay, he’s got it. Relax,” Frost said. “Don’t worry about it. Just learn your lines and have fun.’ It’s so nice knowing that someone’s just got you.”
John Powell, who scored the animated film, returns to provide music for the live-action remake.
Who is in the cast?
(Photo by Robyn Beck/Getty Images)
As is often the case with a DreamWorks Animation movie, the original How to Train Your Dragon had a pretty impressive voice cast, boasting the likes of Gerard Butler, Jay Baruchel, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig. Of those, only Gerard Butler is reprising his role, playing Stoick the Vast, the chieftain of the island of Berk. In an interview with Collider, the 300 and Plane star revealed that he endured a 90-pound costume and freezing weather to play Stoick in live action — a far cry from stepping into a recording booth.
Mason Thames, recently seen in the Scott Derrickson horror flick The Black Phone, steps into the dragon saddle to play the film’s lead character, Hiccup. Baruchel voiced Hiccup, Stoick’s pacifist son who ends up befriending a dragon when he refuses to kill it, in the animated movies. Nico Parker, Thandiwe Newton’s daughter who appeared in Dumbo and HBO’s The Last of Us, plays Astrid, another young warrior in Berk and Hiccup’s eventual love interest; Ferrera voiced the role in the original. The aforementioned Nick Frost plays Gobber the Belch, the village blacksmith who helps train Hiccup and the other youths to become dragon slayers. Ferguson voiced Gobber in the original.
A group of young actors round out the cast as the other villagers. Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Deadpool 2 star Julian Dennison plays Fishlegs, Hiccup’s best friend (originally voiced by Mintz-Plasse); Gabriel Howell plays Hiccup’s rival Snotlout (originally voiced by Hill); and Bronwyn James and Harry Trevaldwyn play the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, respectfully (Wiig and Miller voiced them in the animated film). Ruth Codd, a TikTokker-turned-actress who starred in the Netflix thriller series The Midnight Club and The Fall of the House of Usher, plays Phlegma, another villager.
What is it about?
(Photo by Dreamworks)
The live-action How to Train Your Dragon will presumably follow the plot of the original film — and several scenes, including Hiccup’s first meeting with the dragon, Toothless, appear to have been recreated shot-for-shot in the new medium.
The movies are based on the children’s books by British author Cressida Cowell, and How to Train Your Dragon specifically adapts the story of the debut novel in the series of the same name, released in 2003. Taking place in a fantasy world that’s modeled after the Viking era, How to Train Your Dragon follows Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the awkward son of the chief of Berk. Dragons are very real and perceived to be dangerous by the people of Berk, all of whom take great pride in being dragon-slaying warriors… except for puny Hiccup. When Hiccup attempts to prove himself by capturing a dragon, he ends up ensnaring a particularly rare type known as a Night Fury. Unable to bring himself to kill it, he instead befriends the dragon, who he names Toothless, and their bond could upend everything the people of Berk thought they knew about dragons — if he can figure out how to train Toothless first, that is.
The animated sequels, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, continued the story and together quietly make up one of the better trilogies of the past couple of decades. Should the live-action How to Train Your Dragon be a hit, it’s not unreasonable to assume the sequels might also get the live-action remake treatment.
When will it be released?
(Photo by DreamWorks Animation)
The live-action How to Train Your Dragon was originally supposed to be released on March 14, 2024, though that clearly did not happen. Filming, which primarily took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was set to begin in June 2023, but the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes delayed the production by an entire year. Filming was completed in May 2024, and the picture is on track to hit its new release date, June 13, 2025.
Are there any trailers?
The first trailer for the live-action How to Train Your Dragon was released on Tuesday, November 19. The teaser trailer doesn’t give too much away, instead introducing audiences to Butler’s live-action Stoick the Vast and Thames’ Hiccup. Stoick is a big, tough dragon-slayer; his son doesn’t think he has it in him. But the trailer ends with Hiccup capturing and beginning to befriend Toothless — who looks rather faithful to the animated version of the cat-like black dragon.
This “live-action” Toothless is, of course, created entirely by computers, just as he was in the computer-animated How to Train your Dragon, but this version attempts a somewhat higher level of realism compared to the stylized cartoon nature of the original. It’s an interesting first look at how the film will attempt to overcome the innate hurdle that all these live-action remakes face: namely, how do you translate the vibrancy of a cartoon to reality without making it feel drab? We will know if How to Train Your Dragon soars when it comes out next summer.
How to Train Your Dragon
(2025)
is scheduled for release on June 13, 2025.
English (US) ·