One of the big releases of the year could be the live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon—although so far, the enthusiasm around it isn’t very high, at least according to the old fans, who see it as a completely unnecessary remake since the two stories are identical shot by shot. Dean DeBlois, the returning director of the classic, is generally not a fan of live-action remakes, but in this case, he made an exception not only because he didn’t want Universal to hand the project over to someone else, but also because he knew that certain things were missing from the animated film, which he could now realize in this new version.
DeBlois spoke about the topic to The Wrap. The director admitted, “I’m not a fan of this trend of turning animated films into live-action ones either,” but since the heads of Universal decided to go ahead with the project, he didn’t want to miss the opportunity because the characters—Hiccup, Stoick, Astrid, and the others—had grown so close to his heart.
“If it’s such a personal project like this, then why not make our ambitions a reality? We put the first film together quickly, and although I’m really proud of it, there were things that could have been done better. So, I approached it with the mindset of not missing this opportunity, not letting it go to waste,” DeBlois explained. According to the creator, they treated the animated film as a "rough cut" shown to audiences in a "test screening." In this way, the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon is a more perfect, refined version, with elements that couldn't be realized in the animated classic.
“We had the time and money to dig deeper into the characters’ stories, to enrich the experience, so that the action scenes, the flying, would be a much more visceral, immersive experience, while, again, I emphasize, the character relationships are a bit richer and deeper. Hopefully, this film will provide an experience that feels familiar, nostalgic to the original viewers, but also deeper. There were many paths we could have taken during production, but this, the way we realized the remake, felt like the most fitting to me because I’m really proud of the animated film,” he continued.
DeBlois emphasized that he simply wouldn’t have felt right deviating from the well-known story just to justify the remake's existence. So, instead, they deepened characters and storylines, such as Astrid’s backstory and her relationship with Hiccup. According to DeBlois, this was necessary to highlight that while, ultimately, Hiccup is the leader of the community and Stoick is his father, Astrid doesn’t have this background—she has to fight her way up to where she is.
We’ll see on June 12 how successful this deepening is when How to Train Your Dragon hits theaters. Gerard Butler, the returning actor who plays Stoick, spoke about how great the film turned out based on the rough cut he saw.
