Today, Universal and Dreamworks want audiences to open their hearts to the classic story of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, a would-be Viking king, and Toothless, Hiccup’s best friend and a Night Fury dragon of the skies, for the latest How to Train Your Dragon trailer. Before the new promo took flight online, Marvel fans got a silver-screen look at the trailer ahead of the studio’s new film Thunderbolts*. The footage features classic scenes and characters from the original animated film in live-action, bringing Cressida Cowell’s beloved tale to a new generation of fans.
How to Train Your Dragon focuses on the special friendship between a young and unheroic Viking boy named Hiccup, and Toothless, an injured dragon he nurses back to health. The movies chronicled Hiccup and Toothless’ quest to combat humanity’s prejudice against dragons, the ache of overcoming the loss of a parent, and first love.
The live-action movie stars Mason Thames (The Black Phone) as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, with Nico Parker (Dumbo) as Hiccup’s love interest and fellow student in dragon-fighting training, Astrid Hofferson. They’re joined in the cast by Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2) as Hiccup’s best friend Fishlegs Ingerman, Gabriel Howell (Nightsleeper) as his rival Snotlout Jorgenson, Harry Trevaldwyn (The Bubble) and Bronwyn James (Wicked) as twins Tuffnut and Ruffnut, Ruth Codd (The Midnight Club) as Phlegma, Murray McArthur (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) as Hoark, Nick Cornwall (Sky Sharks) as Hürl, and Outer Banks stunt performer Samuel Johnson as Skaldor. Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy) has an unspecified role. Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) is playing blacksmith Gobber the Belch – and, in a very cool turn of events, Gerard Butler, who provided the voice of Hiccup’s father Stoick the Vast in the animated films, is back to bring his character to life in live-action.
The latest How to Train Your Dragon trailer highlights the evolution of Hiccup and Toothless’s friendship, the larger-than-life threat posed by the war between the Viking hordes and the dragons, and massive creatures capable of untold devastation. To prevent his tribe from extinction, Hiccup must convince the hordes that not all dragons are enemies and that discerning between friend and foe is paramount to survival on both sides of the ongoing war.
How to Train Your Dragon premiered at CinemaCon last month to rave reviews! Speaking from personal experience (having seen the new trailer on the big screen ahead of Thunderbolts*), the movie looks gorgeous and exhilarating in theaters. Families are sure to love Dean DeBlois’s latest adaptation of Cowell’s classic tale, and we can’t wait for more people to see it.
How to Train Your Dragon takes flight in theaters on June 11, 2025.
