Anything Disney can do, DreamWorks Animation can… also do? After years of going toe-to-toe (and sometimes besting) the Mouse House in terms of animated franchise, the company is now also going down the route of making live-action versions of its big hits. First in line? How To Train Your Dragon.
The original trilogy of movies used the books by Cressida Cowell as a jumping off point and focused on the special friendship between a young and unheroic Viking boy named Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and Toothless, an injured dragon he nurses back to health. The movies told Hiccup and Toothless’ quest to combat humanity’s prejudice against dragons, the ache of overcoming the loss of a parent, and first love. With critical appreciation and success at the box office, the film has also spawned several spin-off TV series.
Reassuringly, writer/director Dean DeBlois, who has been the guiding force for the big screen trilogy, will be back to oversee the live-action version, which will have to tread a fine line bringing particularly the loveable toothless into the CG/live-action realm.
Universal is set to distribute as always and a release date is on the books for 14 March 2025.