While not at the heights of Disney's "Lilo & Stitch," the remake starring Mason Thames as the dragon rider Hiccup is topping the opening weekends of its three 2010s animated predecessors and is enjoying strong reception with an A on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 77% critics and 98% audience.

On the set of the live-action movie, Toothless and the other dragons existed as large puppets with simple functions, operated by a team of master puppeteers led by Tom Wilton, a performer who had worked on the “War Horse” stage play.

In an era of skepticism around live-action remakes, Universal believes audiences will take flight with Hiccup and Toothless again.

Relax, dear readers, your eyes don’t deceive you with that headline. Just as Universal/DreamWorks have remade the 2010 fan favorite How to Train Your Dragon, the studio has given its well regarded franchise another premium format finish. Which means it’s time to ask an old question that gets new answers each time: To 3D or Not To 3D?

How to Train Your Dragon has set an audience score record for live-action adaptations of animated films, compared to all the Disney entries.

Costar Mason Thames, who stars as Hiccup in the 2025 live-action remake, says Gerard Butler personified "the giant brute force that Stoick is" Gerard Butler reprises his How to Train Your Dragon role of Stoick the Vast in the 2025 live-action remake Butler previously voiced the character for the franchise's animated films Mason Thames,

Writer-director Dean DeBlois breaks down how he nailed the film's epic flying scene, from Toothless's design to making Hiccup star Mason Thames look like he was really riding a dragon. Thames' mom suggested playing the film's score while he shot the scene,