How to Train Your Dragon is ‘called for effort’ in live-action

Through almost a decade has How to train your dragon the trilogy unleashed a heart-pounding coming-of-age story focusing on the bond between boy and beast. And now director Dean DeBlois – who helmed all three animated installments, co-directing with Chris Sanders on the first film – makes the jump to live-action with the story that started it all. Yes, the Vikings’ young Hiccup and his not-so-scary dragon friend Toothless are about to take on a whole new dimension when the Isle Of Berk is conjured up in the flesh.

As DeBlois tells Empirebrings a different emphasis to the transition to live-action How to train your dragon; a new weight, both physically and emotionally. “It’s so named in terms of stakes — to have a fully believable, photo-real dragon stomping around trying to kill him,” says the director, referring to the scene where Hiccup has to pretend to meet up with Toothless for the sake of of the dragon-fearing people of Berk.

While much of the excitement comes from seeing how the adorable Toothless is rendered for this version of the story, there’s also the matter of Hiccup—the kid who defies tradition and comes to show his people that dragons aren’t necessarily the enemy. Enter Mason Thames, best known for his starring role in The black phone. Since the character “represents all the oddballs out there, and there’s a lot of us,” DeBlois says, it seems like Thames was a perfect fit to inhabit Dragon‘s young human hero. “There was a bit of awkwardness, but also a vulnerability to him that (came) with the fact that he was 15 when we auditioned him,” says the director. Get ready for an adaptation that gives Hiccup and Toothless… well, more teeth.

Read more about How to train your dragon in Empire‘s Ultimate 2025 Preview, led by Andor Season 2 – i January 2025 edition. Pre-order a copy online here. How to train your dragon hits UK cinemas in June.