It was reported earlier this year that Universal was developing a live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon and the project now has its first two cast members. Per THR, Mason Thames and Nico Parker will play Hiccup and Astrid, respectively, in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie.
Mason Thames recently starred in The Black Phone, while Nico Parker played Joel’s (Pedro Pascal) daughter on HBO’s The Last of Us. Jay Baruchel voiced Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon, with America Ferrera voicing Astrid. The report states that the search for the perfect actors took many months as the production was looking for “actors who could grow into the roles as much as the characters themselves grew into maturity in the movie franchise.” Dean DeBlois, who wrote and directed all three of the animated movies, will return to write, direct, and produce the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie as well. Production is expected to kick off this summer.
The original animated movie takes place in a mythical Viking village and follows Hiccup, a young Viking who aspires to continue his tribe’s tradition of becoming a dragon slayer. But after finally capturing his first dragon, Toothless, he learns that there is more to the creatures than he had assumed. It was followed by How to Train Your Dragon 2 and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, with the three films grossing over $1.6 billion worldwide. The franchise also spawned a handful of short films, TV series, video games, and more. The last How to Train Your Dragon movie was said to bring the entire franchise to a conclusion, but the franchise has been a hugely popular one, so it makes sense that Universal and Dreamworks Animation would want to reboot it with a live-action adaptation. Universal has already slated the live-action How to Train Your Dragon for a March 14, 2025 release.
What do you think? Will Mason Thames and Nico Parker make a good Hiccup and Astrid in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie?