How To Train Your Dragon Has Screened, And The First Reactions Are Over The Moon: 'Everything A Live Action Remake Should Be'

With Disney’s live-action remakes having been a key linchpin in the studio’s output of theatrical offerings for more than a decade, Universal Pictures is now getting in on that kind of cinematic action with How to Train Your Dragon. This remake of the same-named 2010 animated movie, which was adapted from the 2003 novel written by Cressida Cowell, is still a few months away from hitting the 2025 movies schedule, but attendees at CinemaCon in Las Vegas were treated to a special screening of it today. The first reactions have come in, and it sounds like this new take on How to Train Your Dragon ranks as one of the better live-action remakes of a popular animated movie.

Starting off, CinemaBlend’s own Jessica Rawden praised How to Train Your Dragon for checking off the categories that make a remake like this worthwhile, as well as advocated for people to see it in a theater:

Directed by Dean DeBlois, who also helmed 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon, this remake is following in the footsteps of Disney flicks like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin by closely following the original story rather than taking major creative liberties along the lines of Mulan. Evidently the end result paid off, with Daniel Baptista from The Movie Podcast describing How to Train Your Dragon as a visual delight:

Mama’s Geeky Tess Smith was similarly impressed, as the performances from the actors and the way the dragons looked, among other things, was enough to get an emotional response out of her:

Gizmodo and io9’s Germain Lussier also mentioned how the new How to Train Your Dragon does a tremendous job of replicating the vibe of its animated predecessor, although he wasn’t as taken by the new material thrown in:

Eric Goldman said that while How to Train Your Dragon isn’t exactly a game-changer in the realm of live-action remakes, he still had a terrific time watching it:

Finally, Cinelinx’s Jordan Maison admitted that he wasn’t initially sold on How to Train Your Dragon getting the live-action treatment, he was pleased with the product that was delivered:

These are just some of the reactions for How to Train Your Dragon that have come out of CinemaCon, so feel free to scour X and other social media platform for more thoughts. Overall, while it won’t necessarily exceed the quality of the original How to Train Your Dragon movie, it sounds like the remake makes for an entertaining theatrical experience. The new movie’s cast includes Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison and Gerard Butler, who’s reprising Stoick the Vast. 

The public will get to judge How to Train Your Dragon for themselves when it’s released on June 13. At some point we can also expect it to become streamable with a Peacock subscription, but clearly this blockbuster is worthy of checking out on the silver screen first.