In How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup was a runty, scrawny slip of a boy whose slight frame and innovative ideas for dragon slaying only proved confounding and disappointing to his broad-shouldered, brawny, and bearded father, a Viking known as Stoick the Vast. But by the end of that adventure, Hiccup had proved he was greater than the sum of his parts. Now, Hiccup's all grown up and geared up for more battle and adventure in the poster for How to Train Your Dragon 2. And of course his best friend, Toothless has got his back. Oftentimes, sequels seem like transparent cash grabs from studios eager to capitalize on a film's fervent fandom. But How to Train Your Dragon 2 not only told a satisfying story, it also introduced a setting rip for world-building and new quests. I mean, you already got Vikings and dragons? What other captivating characters might lurk outside the island of Berk?
Winning critical acclaim and record-breaking box office totals, How to Train Your Dragon inspired DreamWorks to start developing a sequel just one month after its theatrical debut. This time, Dean Debois, who co-wrote the first film with a small team and co-directed alongside his Lilo & Stitch partner Chris Sanders, would go solo, writing and directing How to Train Your Dragon 2. But early 2011, DreamWorks began teasing elements of Debois's pitch, revealing that the first film would ultimately serve as "the first act in a much larger story," and in it Hiccup would travel far beyond the familiar grounds of Berk.
Next, Debois rounded up the cast and crew that helped make the first film such a wonderful success. Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrara, Jonah Hill, and Kristen Wiig signed on to reprise their Viking roles, and celebrated cinematographer Roger Deakins was being brought back in as a consultant to help create what is essentially the camerawork and lighting of the film. Later came news that Game of Thrones' Kit Harrington and Cate Blanchett would be joining the voice cast as an arrogant dragon trapper and a character called Volca respectively. Then this past summer, DreamWorks gave us all a look at what was to come with this tantalizing teaser:
Set five years after the conclusion of its predecessor, How to Train Your Dragon 2 has Toothless and Hiccup using their tandem flying to explore the unknown territories, leading them to an ice cave which plays as home to a new array of dragons as well as the mysterious Dragon Rider. With the release of the film still months away, we assume more and more posters will follow revealing how the rest of the Viking kid crew has grown as well as some of the new cast of characters.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 opens on June 13th, 2014.
