Deadline reports that Gerard Butler will reprise his role of Stoick the Vast for Universal’s upcoming live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon.
We don’t often see actors reprise their animated roles in live-action, but in the case of Gerard Butler, you can certainly understand why Universal wanted him back for their live-action take on the beloved animated franchise. This is going to be fun.
Dean DeBlois, who wrote and directed all three of the animated movies, will return to write, direct, and produce the live-action movie. It was announced last year that Mason Thames (The Black Phone) would star as Hiccup alongside Nico Parker (The Last of Us) as Astrid. Jay Baruchel voiced Hiccup in the animated movie, with America Ferrera voicing Astrid. Gerard Butler was always a highlight in the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, and I’m sure he’ll do just as fantastic buried under a massive red beard for the live-action movie.
The original animated movie takes place in a mythical Viking village and follows Hiccup, a young Viking who aspires to continue his tribe’s tradition of becoming a dragon slayer. But after finally capturing his first dragon, Toothless, he learns that there is more to the creatures than he had assumed. It was followed by How to Train Your Dragon 2 and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, with the three films grossing over $1.6 billion worldwide. The franchise also spawned a handful of short films, TV series, video games, and more. The last How to Train Your Dragon movie was said to bring the entire series to a conclusion, but the franchise has been a hugely popular one, so it made sense when Universal and Dreamworks Animation first announced that they would be rebooting it with a live-action adaptation.
How to Train Your Dragon will be released on June 13, 2025.
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