Gerard Butler says the live-action How to Train Your Dragon will be a lot scarier than the animated film

Gerard Butler spoke about previewing an early cut of the live-action adaptation and being floored by what he saw.

Last Updated on January 31, 2025

How to Train Your Dragon

The Direct got to sit down with Gerard Butler as he was promoting his new film, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, and the subject of How to Train Your Dragon had been brought up. Butler will be starring in the new live-action version, which has the original’s director, Dean DeBlois, returning to the Viking world. When The Direct asked what Butler could tease, the action star said that this film will be a lot scarier than the original.

Butler expounded,

I made three of those movies over many years, and I always wondered, I love the animated movies, but I always wondered, ‘God, what if this was real? What if we were really there, real people, real dragons?’ And we had a chance to do that, to make it real. And I think that is one of the main differences. When a dragon is breathing fire over a bunch of actual Viking men and women running, it feels a lot more scary than when it was animated. You have a little more you can distance yourself, but this feels much more involved and just immersive… “

Here is the plot of the How to Train Your Dragon remake: “On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast, defies centuries of traditional dragon-fighting practice when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society.”

How to Train Your Dragon franchise director Dean DeBlois (Lio & StitchMicronauts) shot Dreamworks’ live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon from his script. Mason Thames (The Black Phone) plays Hiccup, while Gerard Butler plays the Viking leader Stoick. Julian Dennison plays Fishlegs, Gabriel Howell plays Snotlout, Harry Trevaldwyn pays Tuffnut, Bronwyn James plays Ruffnut, Nico Parker plays Astrid, Nick Frost plays Gobbler, and Ruth Codd plays Phelgma.

“I decided to revisit How to Train Your Dragon because it felt like an amazing opportunity to not only direct a live-action movie but to be jumping back into a world that I frankly miss,” DeBlois says. “I miss these characters. I miss this world, and I love movies that have a really poignant message buried deep within a moving spectacle. Adventure, wonder. That’s what this movie really packs. It’s about a regular kid who gets to bond with a powerful animal and there is something that’s universally wish fufilling about that,” He added.

Source: The Direct

About the Author

2280 Articles Published

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.

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