With the live-action movie scheduled for release later this year, the How to Train Your Dragon franchise looks to be expanding. Originally debuting in 2010 as an animated DreamWorks movie, loosely based on Cressida Cowell’s books, How to Train Your Dragon follows a young misfit Viking called Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) as he becomes a renowned dragon rider and expert, flying a Night Fury called Toothless. The 2010 film gained critical acclaim, spawning a movie trilogy, and even led to the creation of spin-off TV shows, games, and short films.
The live-action How to Train Your Dragon is scheduled for release on June 13, 2025, and excitingly marks DreamWorks Animation’s first remake and live-action production. Interestingly, the upcoming film already has a sequel in the works, despite not being released yet, sparking hope for the launch of a wider live-action series of How to Train Your Dragon projects. As a result, we pose four potential movies that could follow How To Train Your Dragon’s remake, transforming them from their original animated format into reality.
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How To Train Your Dragon Is Already Getting A Sequel (But Could Get Plenty More)
The Sequel Could Copy 2014’s How To Train Your Dragon Success
Although the movie has not yet been released, the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon is already getting a sequel. How to Train Your Dragon 2 was confirmed at CinemaCon, where it was revealed that it is scheduled to release in June 2027. Not much information has been released regarding the plot for the second film, but it is speculated to follow the 2014 animated version.
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Now that DreamWork’s How To Train Your Dragon trilogy has come to a close, we take a look back at the 3 movies and rank them from top to bottom.
Set five years after the events of the first movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2 follows 20-year-old Hiccup as he reunites with his long-lost mother while battling Drago Bludvist, who wants to use a dragon army to conquer the world. The sequel exceeded the 2010 movie’s box office, earning $621.5 million, and was praised for its darker tone. If the live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon 2 follows the same story, we could see a similar box office trend, which could launch plenty more future projects.
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Dreamworks’ Dragons Could Be Adapted For Its Own Movie
Dragons Picks Up Where HTTYD’s Narrative Left Off
Another potential live-action movie which could follow in the wake of the How to Train Your Dragon remake is DreamWorks’ Dragons TV series. With 118 episodes in total, Dragons aired on Cartoon Network and Netflix between 2010 and 2018 under a variety of different subtitles. However, it is Dragon’s premise and place in the timeline of How to Train Your Dragon’s movies and TV shows which make it a brilliant potential live-action follow-up movie.
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DreamWorks’ Dragons |
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Season |
Title |
Network |
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Season 1 |
Dragons: Riders of Berk |
Cartoon Network |
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Season 2 |
Dragons: Defenders of Berk |
Cartoon Network |
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Seasons 3–8 |
Dragons: Race to the Edge |
Netflix |
Set between How to Train Your Dragon and How To Train Your Dragon 2, DreamWorks’ Dragons follows Hiccup’s struggles in maintaining the newfound cohabitation of Vikings and dragons on Berk. Alongside introducing the Dragon Training Academy, the show also dealt with new worlds, new dragons, and new enemies, previously unseen in the movie. Therefore, Dragons is a pretty important TV show in terms of establishing How to Train Your Dragon’s lore, and although it lacks a particularly strong narrative at times, a live-action adaptation could tweak the series into a spectacular movie.
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How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Is An Ideal Ending For The Series
The Third How To Train Your Dragon Film Gave An Emotional Ending
If we are getting a live-action remake of both How to Train Your Dragon and its sequel, it would make sense to bring the cast back for How to Train Your Dragon 3. The third and final movie in the animated trilogy series was released in 2019 and followed 21-year-old Hiccup seeking a dragon utopia called “Hidden World,” while dealing with the threat of dragon hunter Grimmel the Grisly. The movie earned $540 million at the box office, and, much like the previous films, also had a positive reception.
Dean DeBlois originally stated Drago Bludvist would return for a redemption arc in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, but DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg convinced DeBlois to scrap his inclusion due to time limits.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World marked a brilliant finale for the animated trilogy, with Toothless finally encountering a female Light Fury, and Hiccup settling down with Astrid. As a result of the decision to keep the dragons’ home secret to keep them safe, despite the Berkians’ attachment to their companions, How to Train Your Dragon 3 had an emotionally-charged ending, especially considering audiences had grown up alongside the films. Considering a live-action sequel is already in the works, hopefully, Universal will follow through and develop a third film to bring the trilogy full circle.
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The Nine Realms Could Become A Legacy Sequel For The Live-Action HTTYD
The TV Series Explores A Modern Story With Hiccup’s Descendants
The most recent How to Train Your Dragon TV series was very different from previous iterations, and could potentially become a legacy sequel for the live-action movies. First released on Hulu and Peacock in 2021, DreamWorks’ Dragons: The Nine Realms is set 1300 years after The Hidden World, following a group of scientists and their children who discover a secret world of dragons. The Nine Realms ran for 8 seasons in total, concluding in 2023.
Despite DreamWorks’ Dragons: The Nine Realms having a different animation style and time period, the TV series served as a spin-off to explore what would happen should the Hidden World from How to Train Your Dragon 3 become unearthed in the future. While this story does pose a lot of interesting questions about the modern world, The Nine Realms would benefit from a later release. If DreamWorks’ live-action franchise is successful, The Nine Realms would be a brilliant legacy sequel to the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
How to Train Your Dragon is a critically acclaimed animated franchise that began with the 2010 film of the same name, inspired by Cressida Cowell’s book series. The story is set in the mythical Viking world of Berk, where young Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III befriends a dragon named Toothless, challenging his tribe’s tradition of dragon slaying. The franchise expanded into a trilogy of films, several TV series, short films, and an upcoming live-action adaptation, becoming one of DreamWorks Animation’s most successful properties.
- Created by
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Cressida Cowell, Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
- Latest TV Show
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DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms
