HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2025): TRAILER
Universal Pictures just dipped their toes into the growing trend of animated movies getting the live-action treatment. And, to my surprise, they may have completely outclassed the competition. This is the 1st trailer for How To Train Your Dragon.
In the remote northern isle of Berk, viking warriors have been enemies of the isle’s native dragons for generations. Young Hiccup (Mason Thames) is an idealist unwilling to kill dragons, to the chagrin of his father Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler). One day, Hiccup finds and befriends an injured dragon named Toothless.
As a new threat emerges to both species, Hiccup and Toothless must unite two societies torn apart by generations of hatred and bloodshed. And with the help of their friends, the duo’s unshakeable friendship will lead Berk through a war against its newfound enemies, and into a new era of peace and prosperity.
Live-action adaptations have always been tricky. In animation, scale and grandeur can be magnified thanks to stylization. Thus, live-action adaptations often feel smaller and more constricted. Additionally, the comedy beats in animation are allowed to feel bigger and goofier thanks to the medium’s inherent fantastical nature. Real people are, obviously, more solid. Their body language moves in a different way, and thus the physicality and pacing in live-action feels different.
How To Train Your Dragon has a lot going for it – the Viking-esque landscape is familiar territory for Hollywood, and it’s easy to translate those vistas to live-action while keeping the scale with a few creative interpretations. Veteran director Dean Debois imbues this brief trailer with widescreen vistas, beautiful lighting and none of the “plastic sheen” seen in many 2024 CGI-heavy Hollywood tentpole films.
Additionally, Toothless is one of the most successful live-action reimaginings of an animated character. While a 1:1 conversion from 2D to 3D often feels uncanny, Toothless feels completely seamless in a live-action world. Helping matters is star Mason Thames, who isn’t afraid to bring his own more doe-eyed idealistic take to protagonist Hiccup. Smartly, it feels as if the creators aren’t aiming to recreate Jay Baruchel’s iconic sardonicism, and have allowed this new actor to bring his own take.
With co-star Gerard Butler reprising his role, it feels as if all the tools are in place for a live-action How To Train Your Dragon to stick the landing at the box office. And if they can continue riding the momentum, they might just be able to fly higher than their animated predecessor.
How To Train Your Dragon will release theatrically in the US on June 13, 2025.
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.
