Toothless anesthesia in new photo.
Photo: Universal Pictures

Apparently learning how to train an animated one wasn’t enough. How to train your dragon hits our screens once again, this time as a live-action film for Universal Pictures. Dean DeBlois, who wrote and directed the film HTTYD trilogy from the 2010s, has returned to helm the project. While some fans have wondered if another adjustment is necessary, DeBlois insisted Empire that the story of a young Viking who befriends a dragon will otherwise hit home. “It’s so complicated when it comes to the stakes: there’s a completely believable, photo-real dragon stomping around trying to kill it,” he said. (Toothless still looks pretty cute in the first trailer, but we digress.)

Cressida Cowell, the author of the book series on which the animated films are based, previously co-signed the upcoming HTTYD in a glowing Instagram post about visiting the set in Northern Ireland this year. Will people like it as much as the original franchise? The (mostly) new cast of Vikings will undoubtedly be compared to their animated counterparts, which earned over $1.6 billion at the global box office. Here’s what we know ahead of the summer release. Or us need a live-action remake of a film that debuted the same year as Instagram is under discussion. At least the new merchandise will be cute!

Everyone can relax now: Toothless is cute! And not in an “Oh, how cute” kind of way that you might politely express when your coworker shoves a picture of their funny-looking baby in your face. I mean, he’s a really stinkin’ cutie patootie – like, “hug and squeeze him until his eyes pop out,” cute. In the first trailer for Universal’s live-action version of the 2010 Dreamworks film How to train your dragonthere’s no indication that the CGI is going in the gritty, overly lifelike direction that has struck other live-action remakes in recent years. The dragon’s toothless scales are shiny, its wings are perky, and its eyes are large, green and expressive. A win for cinephiles and Toothless Truthers everywhere!

The new version stars Gerard Butler (reprising his voice role from the animated franchise), Mason Thames, Nick Frost, Nico Parker, Ruth Codd, Julian Dennison and Bronwyn James. It is written and directed by Dean DeBlois, who co-directed and wrote the Oscar-nominated original from Dreamworks. Its story, based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell, revolves around a sensitive young Viking who befriends one of the winged beasts that his kind have naturally opposed for years. Based on the 75-second trailer, it looks like the live-action version will reflect a similar storyline: we already get a glimpse of the first meeting between Hiccup (Thames) and Toothless, as well as some sweeping Scandinavian vistas and familiar tough love from Hiccup’s father, Chief Stoick the Vast (Butler).

How to train your dragon is currently set to hit theaters on June 13, 2025, so the wait won’t be long. at long.