Even though Universal’s much anticipated live-action version of DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon hasn’t even been in theaters yet, director Dean DeBlois and his crew are already well into production on the sequel. DeBlois took to the stage alongside actors Nico Parker (Astrid) and Gerard Butler (Stoick) to confirm that a drawn-to-life remake of How to Train Your Dragon 2 is preparing to debut in theaters across the globe on June 11, 2027, following yesterday’s highly acclaimed screening of Hiccup and Toothless’ first live-action attempt at CinemaCon.
With Butler, Parker, and Mason Thames returning as the improbable Viking hero Hiccup, DeBlois will be back in the director’s seat for the follow-up. It remains to be seen if the new characters in How To Train Your Dragon 2—namely, Hiccup’s estranged mother Valka (Cate Blanchett), Eret (Kit Harington), and Drago (Djimon Hounsou)—will be reintroduced with their original actors à la Butler’s Stoick or given new faces. However, considering the faith Universal has shown in their live-action adaptation of the franchise so far, we wouldn’t bet against DeBlois bringing out the big guns as Hiccup and Toothless’ Viking-dragon utopia is threatened by the appropriately menacing, aforementioned dragon subjugator Drago.
“Chris Sanders and I were brought in as a replacement writer and director team on that first film […] and many of our ambitions had to be tabled as we were racing to the finish,” the director told Empire when we spoke back in February. DeBlois has long talked about seeing his second attempt at directing How To Train Your Dragon as an opportunity to go beyond the already incredibly impressive work he and his team did on the animated films.
Therefore, even though a live-action adaptation of an animated sequel is practically unheard of in this day and age of reboots, legacy sequels, and requels, the early excitement surrounding the first How To Train Your Dragon reimagining, which is scheduled for release on June 13th, and the fact that DeBlois is directing its sequel have us secretly hoping that the only setbacks to be anticipated here are of the Horrendous Haddock III kind. Folks, see you in Berk!
After directing the DreamWorks Animation trilogy to the big screen in 2010 with “How to Train Your Dragon,” 2014 with “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” and 2019 with “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” DeBlois scripted and directed the live-action version. Together, those movies brought in $1.6 billion worldwide and earned four Oscar nominations.
