Behind the Scenes Featurette for HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON With the Director Explaining Why He Decided to Go Live-Action
Universal has released a new behind the scenes featurette for the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon. The first trailer for the film was released this week, and it was visually pretty spectacular, but it brought about the usual question from fans, “Why do a live-action remake?”
The studio and the film’s director, who also helmed the animated franchise, seemed to be one step ahead of fans, as this featurette seems to at least try to answer that question.
In the video, the three-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe award-winning director, Dean DeBlois states:
“I decided to revisit How to Train Your Dragon because it felt like an amazing opportunity to not only direct a live-action movie but to be jumping back into a world that I frankly miss.
My hope is that those who had seen and loved the How to Train Your Dragon films will be keen to see what we’ve done because it comes from a place of love and it comes from a place of respect.
This whole thing is just one big giant adventure and I wake up every day feeling so thankful that I get to do it.”
In the video, we also get to see the sweet moment the director revealed to actors Mason Thames and Nico Parker that they got the roles of Hiccup and Astrid, respectively.
The film also stars Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast, the leader of the Viking clan and Hiccup’s father, and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) as Viking named Gobber the Belch, the trusted friend and adviser of Stoick.
Using the books by Cressida Cowell as a jumping-off point, How to Train Your Dragon focuses on the special friendship between a young and unheroic Viking boy named Hiccup, and Toothless, an injured dragon he nurses back to health.
The animated movies chronicled Hiccup and Toothless’ quest to combat humanity’s prejudice against dragons, the ache of overcoming the loss of a parent, and first love.
How to Train Your Dragon will be released on June 13th, 2025. Watch the featurette below, and let us know if you’re looking forward to this movie.