As we welcome June, fans of “How To Train Your Dragon” (HTTYD) begin counting the days until the release of the live-action version of the beloved animated epic-action adventure. In the return to the isle of Berk, fans are expectantly wondering how faithful the live version will be to the original tale of Hiccup and Toothless and are yearning for more details about the movie. To get up to speed about all the information surrounding the film, let’s recap all we know so far about it.
February 2023 was the month that the HTTYD fandom was rocked with the news that they would all return to the Vikings and Dragons’ universe soon, in a live-action movie to be produced, written, and directed by the creator of the animated film, Dean DeBlois. Just 2 months later, it was announced that the “The Black Phone” star Mason Thames would be playing the inventive protagonist Hiccup, alongside BAFTA nominee and “The Last of Us” star Nico Parker, who plays the fierce Astrid. The rest of the cast was only revealed later in January 2024.
FANS’ REACTIONS TO THE LIVE ACTION
The news of the cast was received with mixed reactions, mostly targeted at Astrid’s choice. In the animated version, Astrid is physically described as a blue-eyed white girl with long blonde hair, so when Nico Parker was announced, who has a mixed heritage and light brunette hair, she was received with a lot of hate and racist attacks on the internet. In the animosity, director and creator of the movie’ DeBlois went to post on his Instagram talking about the hateful comments and also defending the actress, “Nico Parker is AMAZING… Just wait and see”.
Production had to be delayed because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in May 2023. Once the strike ended in November 2023, filming began in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and continued until May 2024, when DeBlois announced via Instagram that filming had wrapped. In this announcement, the public had a little taste of how the movie will be, with the first image of the production showing the Book of Dragons surrounded by scrolls, one of which has a drawing of Gobber’s helmet.
THE TRAILER
Months later, on November 19, 2024, the movie’s first teaser trailer was posted. It showed fans the iconic meeting of Hiccup and Toothless, and people were already excited and relieved with Toothless’s appearance since, in the past, many remakes have struggled to bring to life fantastic creatures. Fans were also happy to see Gerard Butler reprising his role as Stoick, Hiccup’s father, considering that he voiced the role in the animated film.
With only the short teaser, people longed for more, and earlier this year, they got it. The official trailer for the live film was released on February 12, 2025. It has a lot of the scenes from the original that people hoped to see in this new version, backing what both the director and the main actors have said about it, that although everyone would bring their perspective on the characters, the themes and spirit of the original movie would remain intact.
THE CAST IN BRAZIL
In the last couple of months, the cast has been traveling worldwide to promote the movie, and in the week of May 25th, they arrived here in Brazil. Nico Parker, Mason Thames, Gerard Butler e Dean DeBlois went to Brazil’s iconic June Festival in São Paulo, Festa Junina, aside from also giving interviews for all types of media channels, from YouTube to TV channels, and attending the premiere of the film set to be released to the brazilian public on june 12th.
A SEQUEL? CRITICS REACT TO THE MOVIE AND THE NEWS
While fans wait anxiously for the movie, they already sit on very exciting news around the HTTYD universe, since it was confirmed at CinemaCon 2025 back in April of this year that there will be a sequel! There aren’t many details out about it, other than the rumors that this sequel would bring to life the story of the second film of the animated trilogy. Nevertheless, Universal Pictures has already set a release date for it, June 11, 2027, and assured the return of Dean DeBlois as director of this second movie.
On the very same day the sequel was confirmed, critics watched the movie for the very first time at CinemaCon and the general response is of absolut love for it. Part of the Filmed For IMAX® Program, the producers used the IMAX technology to enhance every magical thing about this story and bring even more emotion than the original one. In addition to that, journalists and producers who watched have been praising the cast, calling Mason Thames “the definition of perfect casting” and stating that this might be the best live-action remake of the last couple of years.
The movie follows the unlikely friendship between a Viking and a dragon that threatens the beliefs of Berk, and it shows that you should challenge social expectations that keep you from being your true self in a beautiful tale of friendship. You don’t want to miss the return to the 2010 hit movie that made people fall in love with a toothless dragon and a clumsy young king.
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The article above was edited by Beatriz Gatz.
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