We have had some iconic animated movies over the decades, and it's not shocking that there have been several live-action remakes of some of these movies. Last year, Nickelodeon's original series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, earned itself a second live-action series remake on Netflix. Now into the New Year, excitement for the upcoming live-action adaptation is beginning to build for How to Train Your Dragon, which arrives in theaters on June 13, 2025. While there are fans who are worried about how the project might ultimately pan out, there is one person who has a positive outlook on things. One of its stars, Gerard Butler, who reprises his role as the rugged Stoick the Vast, is positive about how the live-action works out.
Butler was one of the few players from the original animation trilogy of How to Train Your Dragon, who returned for the live-action remake nearly 15 years later. Butler's character, Stoick the Vast, is the father of the story's protagonist, Hiccup (Mason Thames), and chieftain of the Viking village of Berk. Speaking during an interview about the upcoming Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, Butler was asked by Entertainment Tonightabout what he could share regarding How to Train Your Dragon. The actor revealed that fitting into Stoick's various hair prosthetics has been challenging, but went on to offer a glowing review of the adaptation, saying:
"No! It was like five pieces of hell. Hours everyday and then another hour just to get into the costume. I'd always wondered making those movies, you know, seeing the animated version, 'What would it be like to actually have to be that size? To be that character and to live?' Because, for me, one of the great things about being an actor is you get to live in those other worlds, but you don't when it's animated. But now they've made the live-action, and suddenly you're in those arenas, and you're in that Viking village. The movie's incredible. I've seen it without effects. It's amazing. But I cannot wait for the world to see it."
Nearly a decade and a half later, the upcoming live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragonwill be a remake of the original, not a sequel. The movie's writer and director, Dean DeBlois, has, however, mentioned in the past that while the adaptation will be faithful to the original, it won't be a shot-for-shot remake and that there will be some creative differences to the iteration. Besides Butler and Thames, the call sheet for How to Train Your Dragon includes Nico Parker as Astrid, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Tevaldwyn, and Ruth Codd, among others.
Embodying Stoick Was No Easy Feat for Butler
Image via Universal
How to Train Your Dragon is set in the Viking village of Berk, which suggests a need for frigid conditions when filming the live-action iteration. To deliver this authentically, production was taken to Northern Ireland at the worst possible time of the year — winter. Speaking in an interview with Collider’s Maggie Lovittin November 2024, Butler shared some humorous details about how his costume became both his armor and his personal oven — while shooting in frigid conditions. The actor revealed, laughing:
“I had seven layers, thick layers, and a thick beard, and then I had a kind of bearskin or wolfskin over it. It was heavy as shit. When I had my sword and my shield and the helmet, which was heavy, and all those layers with the clasps that went around, it was 90 pounds, my costume. I was, in the middle of the coldest day, soaking wet from sweat inside because it was like a furnace in there.”
How To Train Your Dragon will fly into theaters on June 13, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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Release Date
June 13, 2025
Director
Dean DeBlois
Cast
Mason Thames
, Nico Parker
, Gerard Butler
, Nick Frost
, Julian Dennison
, Gabriel Howell
, Bronwyn James
, Harry Trevaldwyn
, Ruth Codd
Character(s)
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
, Astrid Hofferson
, Stoick the Vast
, Gobber the Belch
, Fishlegs Ingerman
, Snoutlout Jorgenson
, Ruffnut Thorston
, Tuffnut Thorston
, Phlegma
Image via NBCUniversal
Image via Universal
English (US) ·