It makes sense why the live-action is already in the works. The How to Train Your Dragon franchise kicked off in 2010 with DreamWorks' animated movie of the same name, which was a loose adaptation of the children's book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell. It was followed by a second animated installment in 2014 and a third in 2019. The original animated trilogy has collectively grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide against a combined reported budget of $439 million.

After a hiatus of more than half a decade, the film franchise has returned with 2025's How to Train Your Dragon, which is . While there have been some minor changes to the source material, it is a particularly faithful remake, especially considering the fact that it was helmed by Dean DeBlois, who co-directed the original movie with Chris Sanders and directed the following two installments on his own. The cast of the new movie includes Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, and Harry Trevaldwyn.

The upcoming How to Train Your Dragon 2, which will be a live-action remake of the second installment in the original animated trilogy, was officially announced in April, two full months before the theatrical release of the first live-action movie. , almost exactly two years after the current installment. If the sequel is as faithful as its predecessor, it will follow Hiccup (Mason Thames) and Toothless discovering a cave full of wild dragons, finding Hiccup's long-lost mother Valka, and defending their home village of Berk from the warrior Drago.

This move to rush a sequel into production is unusual, even for the most successful live-action remakes. For instance, of the roughly 20 live-action remakes or reimaginings that Disney has produced so far, four of which have grossed more than $1 billion, only four (101 Dalmatians, Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, and The Lion King) have so far received sequels, prequels, or any sort of feature-length follow-up. However,, so there is less precedent for how they approach their live-action properties.

Now that I've seen the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon, I completely understand why the sequel has been fast-tracked. While it indulges in one of the bad habits of live-action remakes, which is leaning so far into realism that the color palette becomes muddy and lacks vibrancy in many scenes, that issue is systemic and has not prevented other movies from connecting with audiences in a major way. Meanwhile,.

For instance, the photorealistic CGI effects bringing the dragons to life are convincing, giving the imaginary creatures weight and menace while also highlighting how Hiccup might find Toothless adorable. In general, Hiccup's bond with Toothless is perfectly captured, and the casting of the other kids in his dragon-fighting training group bring the original animated characters to life in a satisfying way. This has all been borne out by the How to Train Your Dragon box office, which is projected to have a global debut of more than $200 million, .

The new movie comes alive during every scene where Hiccup and Toothless bond, which makes me particularly excited for . The original installment features Toothless and Hiccup overcoming their mutual distrust, so . In fact, Toothless is in very little of the first hour. However, this is not the case for the other How to Train Your Dragon movies, which means that the live-action sequel should have much more of the single best element of its predecessor, most likely making it even better.