How to Train Your Dragon is a 2025 fantasy adventure film and a live-action remake of the 2010 animated film by DreamWorks Animation, itself loosely based on the 2003 novel by Cressida Cowell. The film was written and directed by Dean DeBlois, who co-wrote and directed the animated film. It stars Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gabriel Howell, Julian Dennison, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Peter Serafinowicz, and Nick Frost, with Gerard Butler reprising his role as Stoick the Vast.
The film is set on the rugged Isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations. Hiccup (Thames), the inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast (Butler), befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society.
Plans for a live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon were announced in February 2023, with DeBlois returning to write and direct. Veteran composer John Powell also returned to score the remake. Thames and Parker joined the cast in May 2023, with additional casting announced in January 2024. Filming began later that month in Belfast, Northern Ireland and wrapped in May. It is DreamWorks Animation's first live-action film since it was spun off from the original live action studio in 2004.
How to Train Your Dragon premiered at CinemaCon on April 2, 2025, and was released by Universal Pictures in the United States on June 13. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $636.4 million worldwide, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the second-highest-grossing live-action/animated hybrid of all time. It earned a nomination for Best Special Visual Effects at the 79th British Academy Film Awards. A sequel, titled How to Train Your Dragon 2 and based on the 2014 animated film, is scheduled to be released on June 11, 2027.
Plot
Dragons frequently attack the Viking village of Berk, stealing livestock and endangering villagers. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the 16-year-old outcast son of chieftain Stoick the Vast, attempts to create mechanical devices to overcome his physical weaknesses. During a dragon raid, Hiccup shoots down a rare dragon called a Night Fury with a bolas huge bow, but is disbelieved. Vowing to prove himself, Hiccup searches for the dragon to kill it. Upon seeing the dragon helpless and wounded, he compassionately releases him. To Hiccup's surprise, the angered dragon spares his life.
Meanwhile, Stoick rallies his fleet to destroy the dragons' nest. Before leaving, Stoick heeds the advice of his best friend and Hiccup's mentor, local blacksmith Gobber the Belch, and enrolls Hiccup in a dragon-fighting class with other local teens: Fishlegs Ingerman, Snotlout Jorgenson, the Thorston twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Hiccup's crush, Astrid Hofferson. Hiccup is mocked by his peers and struggles in class. Returning to the forest, he finds the Night Fury trapped in a cove, unable to fly because Hiccup's bolas severed half of his tail fin. Hiccup befriends the dragon, naming him "Toothless" for his retractable teeth; he builds a harness, saddle, and prosthetic fin, allowing Toothless to fly with Hiccup riding on his back to guide him. Hiccup also learns about dragon behavior from Toothless, which allows him to subdue the captive training dragons, impressing the villagers, but arousing Astrid's suspicions.
Meanwhile, Stoick's fleet is damaged while searching for the nest, and returns to Berk. Upon learning he must kill a dragon for his final exam, Hiccup attempts to flee with Toothless, but Astrid discovers them. Hiccup takes her on a flight to show her Toothless' friendliness. During the flight, Toothless is drawn to a dragon's nest, where a gigantic Kaiju-sized dragon, the Red Death, commands smaller dragons to feed it to avoid being eaten themselves. Realizing the dragons attack Berk for survival, Astrid wants to inform the villagers, but Hiccup advises against it to protect Toothless. In his final exam, Hiccup faces a captive Monstrous Nightmare dragon called Hookfang. Rather than killing it, he attempts to publicly prove dragons can be peaceful, but Stoick inadvertently enrages Hookfang, causing Toothless to emerge from hiding to protect Hiccup. Stoick captures Toothless and disowns Hiccup after discovering the truth. Stoick binds Toothless to his ship and forces him to lead his fleet to the nest despite Hiccup's warnings. After reminding a distraught Hiccup he spared Toothless out of compassion, not cowardice, Astrid has Hiccup rally the other teens to tame the training dragons. Together, they pursue Stoick's fleet to the nest.
Stoick and his fleet locate and break open the nest, but the Red Death awakens and overpowers them. The dragon riders arrive to distract the Red Death while Hiccup attempts to free Toothless from a sinking ship. Stoick, realizing his horrible mistake, rescues both Hiccup & Toothless from drowning and apologizes to them. Hiccup & Toothless lure the Red Death into the air, damage its wing membranes, and set its insides alight, causing it to smash into the volcano and explode. The dying Red Death's tail hits Hiccup off Toothless, and he falls into the explosion's fireball. Toothless saves Hiccup from the explosion and they both survive, although Hiccup loses his left foot.
With the Red Death's threat over, the Berk villagers co-exist peacefully with the dragons. Gobber replaces Hiccup's foot and Toothless's fin with prosthetics, and Hiccup, now admired by his fellow villagers, begins a relationship with Astrid.
Cast
Mason Thames as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the awkward 16-year-old son of Stoick the Vast Nico Parker as Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup's love interest and fellow student in dragon-fighting training Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast, Berk's chieftain and Hiccup's father. Butler reprises his role from the animated films. Nick Frost as Gobber the Belch, Berk's blacksmith, Stoick's best friend and advisor, and teacher of the tribe's young dragon fighting recruits with customizable prosthetics that go over where his right hand used to be Gabriel Howell as Snotlout Jorgenson, dragon-fighting student who sees himself as Hiccup's rival Julian Dennison as Fishlegs Ingerman, dragon-fighting student and Hiccup's best friend who is obsessed with memorizing dragon statistics Bronwyn James as Ruffnut Thorston, dragon-fighting student and Tuffnut's twin sister Harry Trevaldwyn as Tuffnut Thorston, dragon-fighting student and Ruffnut's twin brother Peter Serafinowicz as Spitelout Jorgenson, Snotlout's father and Stoick's second-in-command Ruth Codd as Phlegma the Fierce, a member of the Viking village who lost half her right leg during one of the dragon fights. Naomi Wirthner as Gothi, the village elder Murray McArthur as Hoark, a member of the Viking village Andrea Ware as Burnheart, a member of the Viking village Anna Leong Brophy as Retcha, a member of the Viking village Marcus Onilude as Snorti, a member of the Viking village Peter Selwood as Drül, a member of the Viking village Daniel-John Williams as Fungi, a member of the Viking village Kate Kennedy as Flatula, a member of the Viking village Selina Jones as Loogi, a member of the Viking village Nick Cornwall as Hürl, a member of the Viking village Samuel Johnson as Skaldor, a member of the Viking village
Production Development In February 2023, it was reported that a live-action adaptation of DreamWorks Animation's 2010 How to Train Your Dragon film, which was loosely based on Cressida Cowell's eponymous book series, was in development at Universal Pictures, with Dean DeBlois directing, writing and producing the film after previously writing and directing the animated entries, and Marc Platt and Adam Siegel joining as co-producers. DeBlois only accepted to direct the adaptation on the condition that he had full creative control. In November 2024, Forbes reported that Universal had spent over $50 million on pre-production for the film.
Casting
In May 2023, it was announced that Mason Thames and Nico Parker had been cast to star as Hiccup and Astrid respectively. In January 2024, Gerard Butler was cast to reprise his role as Stoick the Vast from the animated films, with Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, and Harry Trevaldwyn joining the cast later that same month, who were cast to play Gobber, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, respectively. In March, Ruth Codd joined the cast of the film, portraying Phlegma.
Filming
Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin in July 2023 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before it was postponed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. After the strike concluded, screen tests were set for December 2023, with plans to begin production in mid-to-late January 2024. Filming began on January 15, 2024, and wrapped on May 16. Bill Pope served as the cinematographer. DeBlois originally contacted Roger Deakins, who served as a visual consultant on the animated films, about working on the live-action film, but when Deakins declined, he recommended Pope to DeBlois. Production was done with heavy use of practical sets and was filmed with the IMAX format in mind. Many scenes from the original film were re-created shot-for-shot in live-action form, notably Hiccup's first encounter with Toothless. To play the role of Stoick the Vast, Butler wore a massive costume that weighed 90 pounds.
Tindhólmur and Drangarnir of the Faroe Islands, which served as inspiration for Berk in the animated film, were used as filming locations for some of the flight scenes.
Post-production Framestore was the sole visual effects company working on the film, splitting the work across the company's studios in London, Melbourne, Montreal and Mumbai. Christian Manz served as the production VFX supervisor.
To drive authentic performances between the cast and their dragons and to inform the work of the visual effects teams animating the dragons in post-production, puppets were used on set. Tom Wilton led a team of puppeteers whose on set performances allowed the cameramen to frame where the dragon would be while the actors had something to act against. The Framestore visual effects animation team also programmed eight-axis gimbals which were saddled up for the actors to ride with each of the dragon's heads attached during flight scenes. The gimbals allowed each rider to give performances unique to their dragon's flight cycle.
Music
In February 2023, John Powell revealed he was set to compose the film's music, after he previously scored the original film trilogy. The score was released through Back Lot Music day-and-date with the film on June 13, 2025, and was preceded by the single "Test Driving Toothless", which was adapted from the demo of the original film's soundtrack.
Release How to Train Your Dragon had its world premiere at CinemaCon inside The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on April 2, 2025, as part of Universal Pictures' presentation of its 2025 theatrical slate. It had its first screening outside of the United States at the Sydney Film Festival on June 9, 2025, followed by a Los Angeles premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on June 7, 2025, and a New York premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival on June 11, 2025.
The film was released theatrically by Universal in the United States on June 13, 2025, including engagements in RealD 3D, IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, ScreenX and D-Box. It was previously set for release on March 14, 2025, but due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, it was delayed to its June date. The film was dedicated to the memory of Gerard Butler's mother, Margaret Coll, who died earlier that year in February at the age of 81.
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