How To Train Your Dragon live action doesn’t hit the 2025 release schedule until June 13th, but ahead of its official premiere, director Dean DeBlois, cast members Mason Thames and Nico Parker, and producer Adam Siegel all traipsed down the blue carpet to open the Isle of Berk section of Epic Universe. The movie had just recently screened for the first time at CinemaCon, and the director got real about not knowing what the reaction would be ahead of time.
It’s never easy making art, but when you remake art that fans already have feelings about, the whole process of releasing it into the universe can be very unnerving. When I asked DeBlois about the audience reception to How To Train Your Dragon live action, he got candid about the nerves he felt going into screening the movie for the first time.
It’s the first time we played it for anybody. I was certainly worried just because – I shouldn’t say worried, I was confident in the movie, but I wasn’t confident in whether people would embrace it. You know, they might be too attached to the animated movies. Or, there’s that whole discussion of like, ‘Why does it even exist?’ You know, ‘It’s too early or ‘the animated movies are fine.’
Listen, I get it. We’ve seen plenty of live action movies land solid reviews and plenty of eyeballs at the box office – this weekend’s Lilo & Stitch is only one great example. However, other movies, including the recent Snow White, have dealt heavily with backlash that has impacted box office upon release. The first looks at remakes like this do mean a lot.
I actually got to see How To Train Your Dragon earlier this year when it was screened with an audience. You know in novels when characters are described as literally “oohing” and “aahing” and it feels like hyperbole? There’s literally a scene in the movie – and I’m saying this with no spoilers – that actually made me understand what that phrase truly means for the first time. The gasps of delight were audible.
The movie is largely similar to the original, but as DeBlois told me, they did make changes to enrich the film from its 2010 original.
So, it’s up to us to try to convince the audience that it’s worthwhile. We went down paths to give more character richness or immersive action and build up the mythology a little bit.
Even if your mileage varies on plot changes, the movie looks flipping fantastic on a large screen. I cried twice, which was unexpected. Universal is so bullish about the film, the studio already announced bringing the second HTTYD movie to live action, and built a whole dang section of a theme park and three amazing Epic Universe rides around beloved characters like Hiccup and Toothless.
If all that seems up your alley, go see it. It's going to be available in IMAX, and I recommend seeing it on as big of a screen as possible.
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