According to director Dean DeBlois' Instagram, filming for Universal's live-action blockbuster How To Train Your Dragon has begun. However, it appears that a number of parts have yet to be cast or revealed..
'First day of the shoot! We're all excited to get underway!," says Deblois in the Instagram post.
Actor Mason Thames, best known for his role in The Black Phone, will play Hiccup.Thandie Newton's daughter, Nico Parker, who plays Sarah Miller in The Last of Us, will play Astrid.
Recently, the film announced that Gerard Butler would be returning to the How To Train Your Dragon franchise to play village chief Stoick the Vast, a character Butler voiced in the animated films.
It was also recently announced that Nick Frost would be portraying Gobber the Belch, the village blacksmith. He also tutors the main character, Hiccup, giving him practical counsel and encouragement as he navigates dragon training and life in general.
With casting for Hiccup, Astrid Stoick and Gobber revealed, fans are still looking to find out who will be portraying a number of key roles, including:
- Fishlegs Ingerman
- Snotlout Jorgenson
- Ack
- Spitelout
- Phlegma the Fierce
- the twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston
Some fans of the original animated films are concerned that the lack of casting announcements indicates that one or more of these minor characters have been removed or had their roles considerably reduced.
Hopefully, with filming starting, further casting announcements will be made in the following days.
The live-action adaptation is set to hit theaters on June 13, 2025. The film's intended March 14, 2025 release date was pushed back due to this summer's SAG-AFTRA and WGA strike. Pixar's Elio is scheduled to be released on June 13, 2025. Disney's live-action Moana adaptation will be released in theaters two weeks later.
DeBlois, wrote and directed all three animated How To Train Your Dragon movies, which is giving fans of the animated series cautious optimism about the live-action adaptation.
Cressida Cowell's award-winning children's book series inspired the film franchise which has earned more than $1.6 billion globally.
How To Train Your Dragon Official Synopsis: A winning mixture of adventure, slapstick comedy, and friendship, How to Train Your Dragon rivals Kung Fu Panda as the most engaging and satisfying film DreamWorks Animation has produced. Hiccup (voice by Jay Baruchel) is a failure as a Viking: skinny, inquisitive, and inventive, he asks questions and tries out unsuccessful contraptions when he's supposed to be fighting the dragons that attack his village.
His father, chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), has pretty much given up on his teenage son and apprenticed him to blacksmith Gobber (Craig Ferguson). Worse, Hiccup knows the village loser hasn't a chance of impressing Astrid (America Ferrera), the girl of his dreams and a formidable dragon fighter in her own right. When one of Hiccup's inventions actually works, he hasn't the heart to kill the young dragon he's brought down. He names it Toothless and befriends it, although he's been taught to fear and loathe dragons.