A How To Train Your Dragon 2 Crew Member Lost Fingers While The Sequel Was Filming

The live-action How to Train Your Dragon 2 film is now in production, with Dean DeBlois back in the director’s chair. Production kicked off earlier this year in Belfast and has been going since then. Now, unfortunately, it would appear that a crew member has experienced a significant injury. It was just reported that one of the production’s craftspeople was involved in a gruesome incident that saw a few of their fingers get severed.

Apparently, this situation occurred earlier in the month and reportedly happened at Sky Studios Elstree. While filming is currently underway at that same facility, the injury reportedly happened away from the set, as the crew member – a special effects technician – was reportedly using a saw in one of the workshops. Variety didn’t provide exact details on the sequence of events that led to the injury, but the trade confirmed that several digits on one of the person’s hands were cut off as a result.

Said crew member eventually underwent major surgeries but, unfortunately, the fingers were unable to be reattached. As of this writing, Universal Pictures has not issued a formal statement on the matter. Variety also doesn’t specify whether the production schedule was impacted in any way by the situation.

As noted by the trade, this situation comes in the aftermath of Bectu – the U.K.-based crew members’ union – releasing a joint statement with the producers’ union, Pact. That message put emphasis on the importance of health and safety protocols on film and TV sets. Both organizations concluded, after doing research, that some work hazards on set can be attributed to employees working beyond their specific periods of rest.

When it comes to the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, it remains a major IP for DreamWorks and Universal, and it has the receipts to prove it. The first live-action HTTYD film performed well at the box office, ending its run with over $636 million worldwide against a reported $150 million production budget. Dragon also received positive reviews from critics, who cited the vast scale of series shepherd Dean DeBlois’ vision. That aside, though, DeBois was also lauded for the way in which he captured the essence of his original 2010 animated film.

The story for 2014’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 is bigger than the original movie, meaning that the scale for its live-action counterpart should also be quite massive. However, there are also plenty of sentimental moments in Dragon 2, which may get viewers emotional all over again when they see them in the remake. As for the cast, lead actor Mason Thames returns for the sequel as Hiccup and is joined by the likes of Nico Parker, Gerard Butler and Nick Frost, with Cate Blanchett also reprising her role as Valka from the OG animated film.

It’s unclear how much longer it’ll be before HTTYD 2 wraps production overseas. That aside, of course, I’m just hoping for some comfort for the worker who lost his fingers. Here's hoping that as principal photography continues, there won’t be any other serious medical situations either in front of the camera or away from it.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 flies into theaters on June 11, 2027. In the meantime, fans can stream the first of the live-action remakes with a Netflix subscription along with the first two animated movies.