How To Train Your Dragon Looks To Become The Next Animated To Live-Action Box Office Smash

Disney has made a cottage industry by taking its animated classics and remaking them for a new generation into live-action movies. While it may have experienced some misfires along the way, Disney made more than $7 billion at the box office with these remakes from 2010 to 2019 alone. Hence, it was only a matter of time before other studios started doing something similar. That brings us to this year's "How to Train Your Dragon" remake from DreamWorks and Universal, which looks to be a very faithful reworking of the 2010 animated favorite. The question is, can Universal successfully execute this play from Disney's playbook?

Directed by Dean DeBlois, who co-directed the original animated film, "How to Train Your Dragon" is currently expected to pull in between $67 and $77 million domestically when it opens next weekend, per Box Office Theory. That would seemingly put it on track for success. While that number might seem low-ish for this sort of blockbuster, keep in mind that the original film opened to $43.7 million before pulling in $495.1 million worldwide. These family movies can often hang around for weeks, particularly in the summer or Christmas windows. That's precisely what Disney's live-action "Lilo & Stitch" is doing at this very moment.

The other very important thing to remember where it concerns this franchise is that the majority of its money has come from ticket sales internationally in the past. 2019's "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World," for example, opened to $55 million domestically before going on to make $540 million worldwide. Rather crucially, $379 million of that total, or roughly 70%, came from overseas. So, with a franchise-best opening north of $60 or $70 million and equivalently big turnouts internationally, Universal looks to be in a good position here.

It is, however, important to consider that Hollywood films no longer make nearly as much money in China as they used to, generally speaking. Mind you, that's on top of the diminished returns from Russia and Ukraine. Still, be that as it may, the numbers appear to be in the studio's favor here.

2025's "How to Train Your Dragon" is set on the isle of Berk, a place where Vikings and dragons have been enemies for generations. At the center of the story is Hiccup (Mason Thames), the son of Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), who defies centuries of tradition when he befriends a Night Fury dragon whom he names Toothless. Ultimately, their unlikely bond will shake the very foundations of Viking society when an ancient threat emerges, forcing Vikings and dragons to navigate a delicate path toward peace for their collective survival.

There are those who may scoff at the idea of remaking a 15-year-old animated movie in live-action, especially one as faithfully-rendered as this film appears to be based on the marketing. That being said, the early reactions to "How to Train Your Dragon" have been very positive, and it appears to be a real crowd-pleaser. If that positive buzz continues as the full reviews begin dropping, these early estimates could start looking conservative before long.

On paper, at least, this film has all of the makings of a big hit. DeBlois obviously cares about the material, which is why he came back to direct this re-imagining. Moreover, it's joining a franchise that's already made $1.6 billion at the box office in addition to encompassing animated TV shows, tons of merchandise, and even theme park attractions. The audience for this property, in other words, is massive, and it's that type of real-world passion that turns films like "A Minecraft Movie" into much bigger successes than pre-release estimates ever suggest. And though I hasten to put a number on it, my gut says this movie has a really good shot at a bigger opening than currently predicted.

"How to Train Your Dragon" hits theaters on June 13, 2025.