While the live-action How To Train Your Dragon movies have recast the majority of the human characters, there are some who just can't be replaced. In the first film, for example, it would have been downright insane to see any actor other than Gerard Butler play the role of Stoick, so it was a natural choice to have him reprise the part. That same philosophy has now been applied to How To Train Your Dragon 2 as well: it would have been a major challenge for the audience to see anyone other than Cate Blanchett as Hiccup's mother Valka, and today we've learned that we won't have to worry about that.
The Hollywood Reporter has gotten word that the two-time Academy Award-winning star has signed a deal that will see her play the live-action version of her character from director Dean DuBlois' 2014 animated sequel. She joins a cast that presently also includes Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James and Harry Trevaldwyn – all of whom will be reprising their roles from the hit remake released last summer. Filming is set to begin soon in advance of the June 2027 release date that Universal Pictures has already planted a flag on.
For those who don't recall the lore from How To Train Your Dragon 2, the sequel picks up years after the previous movie and sees Hiccup and the his friends in conflict with a collection of dragon trappers who aim to militarize the mystical creatures. It is during this conflict that the protagonist has a run-in with his long-lost mother, who left the village of Berk long ago because of the society's prejudice against dragons.
Blanchett is coming off of a standout 2005 that saw her in two features from acclaimed directors in addition to having a surprise cameo in the finale of Squid Game Season 3. Earlier in the year she starred alongside Michael Fassbender in Stephen Soderbergh's acclaimed spy thriller Black Bag, and last month audiences got to see her as part of the ensemble cast in Jim Jarmusch's Father Mother Sister Brother.
As far as other upcoming projects, she has completed work on the David and Nathan Zellner-directed sci-fi comedy Alpha Gang with Dave Bautista and Chris Pine, and she is also in writer/director Alice Birch's fantastical drama Sweetstick.
It goes without saying that getting Cate Blanchett back in the role of Valka is a massive win for How To Train Your Dragon 2, but there is still more casting to come. For example, will the film bring Djimon Hounsou back as the nefarious Drago Bludvist, the leader of the dragon trappers, or will the project aim to bring in a new name?
Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming weeks/months for more updates about How To Train Your Dragon 2 as we get ever closer to its planned theatrical release on June 11, 2027.
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