Universal Pictures’ live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, written and directed by Dean DeBlois. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Preview:
- The new ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ is a roaring success so far.
- Dean DeBlois’ film has earned more than $197 million globally.
- Disney’s own live-action conversion of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ fell to second place.
Looks like audiences were very ready to visit the island of Berk again.
Or perhaps the term should truly be re-visit, since the new ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ a live-action re-imagining of the 2010 animated adventure, is essentially that movie told over again.
Still, audiences embraced it to the tune of $83 million at the domestic box office.
“The legend is real.”
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On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup stands apart, defying centuries of tradition when he befriends… Read the Plot
The new movie, written and directed by Dean DeBlois (who co-wrote and directed the animated original before taking on its two follow-ups), has been a big success for DreamWorks and Universal, which dipped a toe (a claw, perhaps?) into the animated-to-live-action conversion following years of Disney doing the same.
Related Article: ‘How to Train Your Dragon’: An Entertaining Copy of the Original Movie
How did the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ live-action movie do elsewhere at the box office?
(from left) Hiccup (Mason Thames) and Astrid (Nico Parker) in Universal Pictures’ live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, written and directed by Dean DeBlois. Photo: Universal Pictures.
‘How to Train Your Dragon’ wasn’t just successful here.
It collected $114 million while landing in 81 overseas markets, ranking as the No. 1 movie at the international box office, and $197.8 million globally. Top territories include Mexico with $14 million, the UK and Ireland with $11.2 million and China with $11.2 million.
Here’s Universal’s domestic distribution chief Jim Orr on the success of the movie:
“Our filmmaker Dean DeBlois created an incredible tale with heart, action and emotion. Multiple generations are in love with it. With our audience scores, I can only believe we are going to have a long run throughout the summer.”
And this was ComScore analyst Paul Dergarabedian on one reason for it:
“PG has become the goldilocks of ratings, one that indicates a film is appropriate for kids but still has enough edge to appeal to young adults, teens and more mature moviegoers. This is certainly a trend that should carry over to ‘Elio,’‘Smurfs’ and ‘The Bad Guys 2,’ which are yet to come on the summer movie slate.”
It’s a success story, since the movie cost $150 million to make and an additional $100 million to market, but assuming it has legs at the box office, it’ll easily make some profit.
What else happened at the box office this weekend?
(L to R) Maia Kealoha as Lilo, Stitch and Sydney Agudong as Nani in Disney’s live-action ‘Lilo & Stitch’. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2025 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This weekend’s new arrival deposed the previous box office champ, Disney’s ‘Lilo & Stitch’, another example of a movie that was re-imagined in live-action from an animated original.
In a distant second place, the other remake has collected $15.5 million in its fourth weekend of release.
The company won’t be too worried, though, as the movie is already a blockbuster with $366 million domestically and $858 million globally. It’s on track to be the year’s first billion dollar release.
The weekend’s other major wide release, A24’s ‘Materialists,’ launched at No. 3 with a promising $12 million from 2,844 venues.
Though it was met with a mixed audience reception, the film launched above projections that had been sitting around $8 million to $10 million.
Directed by Celine Song in her follow-up to the Oscar-nominated ‘Past Lives,’ the movie follows a New York City matchmaker (Dakota Johnson) who finds herself in a love triangle with a wealthy suitor (Pedro Pascal) and an imperfect ex (Chris Evans).
A24 spent $20 million on the film, not including marketing fees.
(L to R) Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal in ‘Materialists’. Credit: Atsushi Nishijima.
Fourth place went to Paramount’s ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ with $10.3 million in its fourth week of release, declining 31% from the prior weekend.
The eighth entry in the Tom Cruise-starring action franchise has amassed $166.3 million in North America and $506 million worldwide to date.
Against its massive $400 million budget (partly the impact of covid and other delays), though, ‘The Final Reckoning’ doesn’t have the strength to climb out of the red in its initial theatrical run.
The ‘John Wick’ spin-off ‘Ballerina’ rounded out the top five.
The film earned $9.4 million from 3,409 theaters in its second weekend of release, a 62% decline from its debut. So far, the movie has generated $41.8 million domestically and $91.5 million globally, hardly punching above its weight for the franchise.
What’s the future for the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ live-action franchise?
Even before this movie was released, DreamWorks and Universal were clearly enthused, as a sequel has already been ordered, with a date set for June 11th, 2027.
Given the response to this one, it certainly looks like cinemagoers will be back for it.
Mason Thames (right) as Hiccup with his Night Fury dragon, Toothless, in Universal Pictures’ live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, written and directed by Dean DeBlois. Photo: Universal Pictures.
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