$636M Fantasy Remake Instantly Becomes Netflix’s New #1 Movie (& It’s Much Better Than Anyone Expected)

Netflix is trending once again, thanks to the streaming service debuting one of the hottest fantasy movies of 2025, which has shot up the rankings to claim the No. 1 spot. What’s even more impressive is that the film is a remake of one of the biggest modern classics in animation, which was already a challenge. Not only did the new version do justice to the original, it also won over some very skeptical critics, and as you can see from the Netflix data, it’s only becoming a bigger hit with viewers, now that it has the widest distribution platform there is.

The live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon has debuted at the top of the Netflix charts, and is retaining its throne two days after release on the streaming platform (at the time of writing this). The Universal Pictures film hit theaters in June of 2025 and started streaming on Peacock in October. Now it has moved over to the much wider audience at Netflix, who have clearly been waiting for the film to arrive.

Why Is How to Train Your Dragon‘s Live-Action Remake So Popular?

How to Train Your Dragon is one of the better success stories in this modern trend of remaking classic animated films, earning $636.4 million at the worldwide box office. Dreamworks spared no expense ($150 million budget), converting the 2010 animated film into a photo-realistic motion-capture blockbuster; they also cast a very talented ensemble of actors, including Mason Thames (The Black Phone) in the lead as Hiccup, and Gerard Butler reprising his animated voice role as Hiccup’s dad, Stoick the Vast. It was also a badge of authenticity that Dean DeBlois, one of the co-directors of the original animated film, directed the live-action remake.

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The real challenge How to Train Your Dragon (2025) had to meet, however, was recreating the character of “Toothless,” the Night Fury dragon that Hiccup meets and befriends. The animated version of the character became one of Dreamworks’ biggest branding and merchandising wins, standing alongside Shrek and Po, the Kung Fu Panda. However, the live-action version of HtTYD wowed audiences with its updated version of Toothless, nailing the conversion to photo-realistic CGI that made every scale on the dragon look real. More importantly, Toothless’s expressions and emotions were both convincingly “real” and a fitting recreation of the animated character fans loved. The ‘boy and his dog’ chemistry between Hiccup and Toothless was also very much intact in the live-action remake, making the experience even more relatable and real for a new generation of viewers.

In ComicBook’s review, we said How to Train Your Dragon (2025) was “How you do a live-action remake” the right way. Critic Nicole Drum wrote that “How to Train Your Dragon is exactly what a live-action remake of an animated film should be. It honors the original and enhances it by seeking not to change it. Instead, you come away with a fantastical story that feels just that much more real — and maybe, just maybe, believing in dragons once again.”

There’s More Live-Action How to Train Your Dragon Coming

The success of the How to Train Your Dragon remake has motivated Universal Pictures to continue remaking the animated trilogy. At the time of writing this, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is already in production. Universal made the official announcement at CinemaCon 2025 last April, with the release date set for June 11, 2027. Filming on the sequel started in late January in London. Cate Blanchett will be the next animated movie veteran reprising her role (which is a spoiler) in the live-action version. Ted Lasso star Phil Dunster is also joining the sequel as dragon-trapper, Eret.

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