The live-action version of How To Train Your Dragon just got a major update with Deadline reporting that Gerard Butler will reprise his role from the animated movie. Butler previously voiced Chief Stoick the Vast, aka Hiccup’s dad, in the first two movies of the animated trilogy. How to Train Your Dragon bringing back Gerard Butler for the live-action movie will likely be a major boon for fans that were skeptical of the project, that is if original trilogy writer/director Dean DeBlois being involved didn’t already convince them. The cast for the live-action now includes Gerard Butler starring opposite Mason Thames (The Black Phone) as Hiccup and Nico Parker (The Last of Us) as Astrid.
Dean DeBlois, the architect for the animated feature films, which have grossed over $1.6 billion collectively, returns as both writer, director, and producer for the film, one of the few times that the original creative force behind a hit animated movie was brought back for the live-action remake. The live-action How To Train Your Dragon marks his debut in live-action. Marc Platt, who produced the upcoming Wicked movies, plus the live-action Aladdin and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, will produce the film through his Marc Platt Productions banner.
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Based on the books by Cressida Cowell, How To Train Your Dragon premiered in 2010 and would dominate the decade with its two sequels, plus several shorts and the TV spinoff shows that include DreamWorks Dragons, DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Rider, and DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms. The original voice cast for the movies, in addition to Gerard Butler, included Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, and Craig Ferguson. It has yet to be confirmed if any of them will return for the live-action How To Train Your Dragon.
Will There Be Another How to Train Your Dragon?
After the conclusion of the eighth and final season of DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms, the How to Train Your Dragon franchise seems firmly focused on the upcoming live-action remake. What’s unclear is if this movie will fully remix the events of just the feature films or if it will also incorporate moments of the spinoff shows as well. As DeBlois previosuly explained in 2019, the ideal way to continue the franchise in animation would be to set it in a wildly different era.
“We definitely wanted it to feel hopeful but also conclusive,” DeBlois said at the time. “And I think what we tried to do was deliver a satisfying ending that ultimately meant that Hiccup and Toothless would go their separate ways, but also reassure the audience it was for the best, that we see them thrive in their adulthood. For me it’s a satisfying end, and that was the intention, to really kind of bring it back to the disappearance of dragons and having them kind of fall away into legend, but we the audience kind of know they’re still around. And beyond that, I don’t own the franchise, so I think if Dreamworks wanted to open it up again at some point, I would hope that it a different timeline, different characters, with the Hiccup/Toothless story remained intact.”
How to Train Your Dragon was previously scheduled to arrive on March 14, 2025, but was delayed by the dual strikes in Hollywood. The new movie will now debut in theaters on June 13, 2025.
