How to Train Your Dragon First Reactions + Sequel Announcement! My Thoughts!
The CinemaCon event continues. A couple days back Universal had their panel, for the most part there wasn’t much to talk about. Except How to Train Your Dragon sort of dominated the panel with the first public screening for the live action film as well as an announcement for the sequel. What are my thoughts? Am I excited? Let’s talk about it!
General Thoughts on How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
I haven’t really talked about the live action film releasing in June. It wasn’t on any of my most anticipated lists of 2025. I don’t know if it’ll make for my most anticipated summer. But I’m the generation that grew up with the animated trilogy. I was five years old when the original came out and was fourteen when the third one came out. Hiccup and Toothless mean a lot to my generation and some of the most beloved characters of our generations. However, I’ve never loved these movies as much as other people. The second one is EASILY my favorite and the other two are good but nothing special in my mind.
When they announced a live action How to Train Your Dragon, I was very conflicted about it. I viewed it the same way other Disney live action remakes. Part of my issue with this movie is that it feels too soon. The original came out 15 years ago, this trilogy ended six years ago. We haven’t gone a long time with the animated trilogy so it just feels too soon. This doesn’t have the multi-generational appeal that remakes like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, or The Little Mermaid have. The target audience for the original when it came out are 20-25 years old. It’s not like my generation can take our kids to go see the way that kids of the ‘80 and ‘90s could take their kids to see The Lion King (2019) in the theater. It’s a desperate move on Universal’s part to try and copy Disney’s remake strategy. At the same time, I think the idea of Vikings on dragons lends itself very well to live action. Game of Thrones proved that it’s a very cinematic idea. Of the movies that Dreamworks could turn into live action, How to Train Your Dragon could and does work. I’ve been pretty skeptical about this project ever since it was announced and still haven’t been super curious about it.
General Thoughts on How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
While I’m not super excited about it one thing that has raised my curiosity was the early reviews the film has gotten. Sometimes at CinemaCon a film studio will premiere a movie early to get the word of mouth going. 2022 Paramount showcased Top Gun: Maverick which obviously worked very well and was one of the best movies of the year. The following year WB did with The Flash which wasn’t as good. That movie had some hype and fantastic reviews prior to coming out. Then quickly became one of the most polarizing films of 2023. For How to Train Your Dragon (2025) the reviews are very positive. Granted, The Flash had positive reviews coming out of CinemaCon and ended up disappointing a lot of people. There’s a chance that it happens with How to Train Your Dragon (2025). But Universal thought this movie was good enough to premiere two months earlier and get the word of mouth going. Here’s some of the positive reviews that I found on Twitter regarding the film.
Scott Menzel: “A visually stunning and emotionally engaging retelling of the animated classic. Director Dean DeBlois recreates the magic of the original with lots of action, humor, and heart. Mason Thomas as Hiccup is the definition of perfect casting as is the majority of this cast…it’s a must seen on the big screen and is a reminder why audiences love going to the movies. This is going to be a massive hit.”
Daniel Baptista (The Movie Podcast): “A gorgeous reimagining of one of the best beloved animated movies of all time. Full of heart, it takes everything that made the original so special and soars to new heights with breathtaking visuals and a spectacular story for a whole new generation.”
Tessa Smith: “The live action remake has all the charm of the original enchanted into something I never thought it could accomplish. The cast is incredible & the dragons adorable. I lost count of how many times I cried. This is something truly special.
Germain Lussier: “The live action movie captures the magic of the original in almost every way. All the big moments are there, all the heart and excitement too. Wonderful performances all around. My only gripe is the new stuff, while good and subtle, never elevates things enough.”
As you can see a lot of very positive reviews coming out of the first public screening at CinemaCon. Sounds like it captures the magic nicely, which isn’t too surprising considering it’s the same writer & director of the original. So I’m curious how general audiences respond to this movie when it releases in June. Will this be another scenario where the hype is real like Top Gun: Maverick or the early positive reviews weren’t matched by the audience’s reaction like The Flash.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 Releasing in 2027
The final How to Train Your Dragon news to talk about is during the panel. Universal announced that a live action remake of How to Train Your Dragon 2 is in the works and will release June 2027. First up, I’m excited about this because I think How to Train Your Dragon 2 is EASILY the best of the trilogy so seeing that one brought to live action interests me a lot.
I’ve seen some people question if the positive buzz + a sequel announcement gives them hope about the remake releasing in June. It’s a bit tricky because on the one hand, the fact this movie premiered over two months before it came out makes me think Universal has a lot of faith in this movie. If the movie is actually as good as the early reviews make it out to be and it’s a crowd pleaser like home some describe. Then maybe this movie gets close to the $1 billion club, maybe it even makes over $1 billion. If that’s the case the Universal wants a sequel if this one is a hit. At the same time, it’s pretty easy to make a live action sequel because the animated sequels exist and they can pull from it. So it’s not like they have to come up with a story, it’s already there, they just have to adapt it.
I’ll say this, it seems a bit risky to announce a sequel this far out. With what happened with The Flash with it being hyped up so much early on and then releasing and being a box office bomb and polarizing. I feel like Universal should learn from that and wait till the movie releases. With The Flash’s CinemaCon screening in the back of my head I get nervous that something similar could happen with this movie. I don’t think it will but it could and if this movie bombs and gets negative reviews with a sequel in the works. Dreamworks and Universal could be in a lot of trouble.
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