While the biggest films of the summer are still to come, the top box office hit of the season so far is Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” with nearly $800 million grossed globally and counting. Now it’s Universal and DreamWorks’ turn to follow down Disney’s well-trodden remake path with “How to Train Your Dragon,” which is tracking to open north of $75 million.
It’s been 15 years since Dean DeBlois first brought Cressida Cowell’s bestselling fantasy YA novel series to the big screen, turning it into one of DreamWorks’ most successful franchises with a trilogy of animated films that have been released by three different studios — Paramount in 2010, 20th Century Fox in 2014, and Universal in 2019 — and which have a combined lifetime gross of $1.63 billion.
And the movies are just the beginning. “How to Train Your Dragon” has spawned three spinoff TV series with a combined 223 episodes, a multibillion-dollar merchandise line, and most recently, its own section of Universal’s acclaimed new Orlando theme park Epic Universe.
Now, with this new live-action remake starring Mason Thames and Gerard Butler, Universal is banking on the Viking hero Hiccup and his dragon Toothless being one of its top tentpole franchises, as a remake of the second installment in the animated trilogy has been greenlit for a June 2027 release.
Based on tracking, Universal’s confidence in the franchise is well-placed. While not on course to be as big as “Lilo & Stitch,” current projections have “How to Train Your Dragon” earning a $75 million-plus domestic opening.
That would be enough to exceed the opening weekends of any of the animated “HTTYD” films, with the highest being the 2019 trilogy capper “The Hidden World,” which opened to $55 million from a February opening. The highest grossing overall is “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” which made $177 million domestic and $614 million worldwide before inflation adjustment in June 2014.
Early reception from critics has been similar to that for “Lilo & Stitch”: not as good as the original, but better than other recent remakes of animated films. At time of writing, “How to Train Your Dragon” has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 81% with 77 reviews logged. By comparison, all three of the animated “Dragon” films have Tomatometer scores higher than 90%.
Given that DeBlois has returned to direct the remakes and has remained largely faithful to his past work with a few spoonfuls of expanded scenes and plot elements, it is likely that families and nostalgic fans that are interested in seeing the story of Hiccup and Toothless’ origin told in an Imax-scale live-action form will get their money’s worth.
The question then becomes how far the remake and its upcoming sequel can expand the established “Dragon” fanbase. While there is millennial and Gen Z nostalgia for the series, the projections show that it is not as widespread as for “Lilo & Stitch.” But like that remake, there may be kids among the opening weekend audience who are seeing this story unfold on the big screen for the first time.
Next weekend, Disney will bring some family competition in the form of the original Pixar film “Elio,” which is currently tracking for a $35 million opening and will try to leg out like Pixar’s last original film, “Elemental.” With Universal opting for “Jurassic World: Rebirth” rather than an Illumination film for its big July release, the field will be open for both “Dragon” and “Elio” to try to build off of early buzz as audiences are offered two PG-rated choices: something familiar and something new.
