‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Director Defends Live-Action Remake Changes

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The “How To Train Your Dragon” live-action remake is officially hitting theaters on June 13, 2025, and it is already looking like it will be a critical and financial success, especially after the success of fellow live-action remake “Lilo & Stitch.”

But with any adaptation of an existing work, there are bound to be changes, and “How To Train Your Dragon” is no different.

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While these changes have the opportunity to upset fans of the first movie, director Dean DeBlois saw this as an opportunity to find more depth from the original film, which he also directed.

In an interview with Brian Davids of The Hollywood Reporter, DeBlois revealed that there was about 27 minutes of additional footage added in the live-action remake that allowed them to explore relationships more.

“Well, a lot of individual scenes just grew because we allowed for the relationships to run a little deeper,” DeBlois said. “An example might be the scene in which Hiccup is supposed to kill a Monstrous Nightmare in front of the whole village, so there’s time spent with Astrid and Hiccup in the tunnel.

“There’s a little more time spent with Stoic and Hiccup, and there’s the intense scene that unfolds in the arena as Toothless bursts in and tries to protect Hiccup. So the action is dialed up, but so is the interplay between characters.”

“Another scene is when we follow Stoic and his ships into the fog for the first time where they get jumped by dragons. It’s only suggested in the animated movie, but we get to venture in there and remind the audience that there is cause to be intimidated and fearful of dragons just as Hiccup is befriending one in the secret cove.”

While it seems there was plenty added, there were still some scenes that were cut from the original film, including Hiccup being attacked by the Terrible Terrors and Astrid not catching Hiccup and Toothless “red handed” in the blacksmith stall.

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In the end, DeBlois is just happy he got to revisit a world that he spent so much time creating and developing, something most animation directors don’t get to do.

“The big difference is that Universal approached me as the original filmmaker, which is something that I don’t think any of the Disney remakes have done,” DeBlois said. “So that was flattering and an honor, but just the fact that they were considering a live-action retelling meant that it was likely going to happen.

“And to be frank, I selfishly didn’t want to see somebody else’s version of it. So I put my hand up and said, ‘Listen, I know where the heart is, and I know these characters and this world intimately. If you’re going to do it, I would love to be at the helm of it.'”

This is often the complaint for most live-action remakes, including the recent box office smash “Lilo & Stitch,” which is a remake of another animated film DeBlois directed.

In the end, it appears that DeBlois has kept the spirit of the original film alive while making enough changes to justify the new remake.

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