Summary

  • DreamWorks' live-action How to Train Your Dragon remake led the box office this weekend.
  • Audiences are loving the remake, with positive scores on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes.
  • Director Dean DeBlois, who also directed the original film, added new elements to the remake, making it longer and well-received.

It has only been fifteen years since the original How to Train Your Dragon film was released in theaters, but fans were clearly ready for a remake. At least, that's how it feels when you look at the new film's record box office from this weekend.

Based on the 2003 novel of the same name, 2010's How to Train Your Dragon proved that DreamWorks Animation could do more than the out-and-out comedy franchises they were known for up to that point. While it is hard to argue with the success of the Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda series, films like Shark Tale and Bee Movie had animation diehards wondering if the production house would ever take the next step into creating films that were a bit lighter on the comedic side and a bit heavier on poignancy. With its astonishing critical reception, multiple Academy Award nominations, and $494 million gross at the worldwide box office, How to Train Your Dragon proved that DreamWorks was ready to take the likes of Disney and Pixar head-on. To be frank, How to Train Your Dragon felt more in line with something Studio Ghibli would produce than something coming out of the Mouse House. Now, it's clear audiences wanted more of that dragon-based movie magic as the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon totally mopped up the competition this weekend at the box office.

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The Live-Action How To Train Your Dragon Already Succeeds Where Disney's Remakes Fail

For now, Dreamworks has the better direction moving forward.

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As Disney's Lilo & Stitch remake proved earlier this summer, audiences are game for more live-action remakes. How to Train Your Dragon's massive haul of around $197.8 million worldwide this weekend just backs up that fact. It is the highest-grossing opening weekend in the history of the storied franchise. If that weren't enough to delight DreamWorks executives, the remake is also scoring quite well on both CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes. This will undoubtedly delight the studio as they have a sequel to the film already in production for release in 2027. Other offerings also did well, boosting the box office to a Father's Day Weekend total that hasn't been since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

How to Train Your Dragon Is Cleaning Up The Box Office And Performing Well With Audiences

The How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake has the unique quality of being directed by the same person responsible for the original movie. Dean DeBlois co-directed the original How to Train Your Dragon film in addition to directing 2014's How to Train Your Dragon 2 and 2019's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Funnily enough, he and Chris Sanders (his co-director on the original How to Train Your Dragon) also co-directed Lilo & Stitch for Disney back in 2002. What a wild coincidence that remakes of both Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon would dominate the box office during the same summer.

Of course, 2025's How to Train Your Dragon is more than just a shot-for-shot remake, even though the great Gerard Butler reprises his role as Stoick the Vast from the original series of films. While many scenes do feature nearly identical shots and cuts, the now How to Train Your Dragon is more than 25 minutes longer than the 2010 animated film. As writer/director of both films, Dean DeBlois knew where he wanted to add to the story and where he wanted things to stay the same. Audiences seem to be responding to his choices as word-of-mouth surrounding How to Train Your Dragon is outrageously positive, thus far. People really like dragons, huh?

How to Train Your Dragon is currently in theaters worldwide.

Source: THR