‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Remake Debuts With Same CinemaScore As Animated Original

Released alongside the romantic comedy Materialists this week, DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon seems to be the clear winner, both at the box office and in terms of audience response. It’s the animation studio’s first live-action remake, after Disney popularized the format over the last decade or so. How to Train Your Dragon arrives in uncertain times, with audiences apparently getting a little tired of these movies, with the recent Snow White and The Little Mermaid both underperforming. Fortunately for Universal, How to Train Your Dragon averted a similar fate, as it counts on the millennials who grew up on the original to show up in theaters.

Disney itself experienced the sheer power of this demographic recently, with its Lilo & Stitch remake delivering a Memorial Day record. The movie has since grossed over $350 million domestically and almost $850 million worldwide. It’s on track to pass the coveted $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, thanks to an incredible audience response. And guess what? Those who checked out How to Train Your Dragon on opening day were even more impressed. They’ve awarded it a near-perfect 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes, in addition to an encouraging A grade on CinemaScore.

This is the same grade that the original How to Train Your Dragon earned back in 2010. The movie was a huge hit, grossing nearly $500 million at the worldwide box office. A sequel, titled How to Train Your Dragon 2, was released in 2014; it made over $620 million worldwide. A third installment, titled How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, made over $515 million worldwide in 2018. The live-action remake is directed by Dean DeBlois, who was also involved in all three live-action movies.

The ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Remake Brings Back a Key Cast Member from the Original

Produced on a reported budget of $150 million, the film holds a “certified fresh” 77% score on Rotten Tomatoes. In her review, Collider’s Maggie Lovitt called it “the gold-star example of how to do a live-action remake right.” The film stars Mason Thames in the lead role, voiced quite memorably in the animated original by Jay Baruchel. Gerard Butler, on the other hand, returns to reprise his role as Stoick the Vast. Also featured are Nico Parker, Nick Frost, and Julian Dennison. You can watch How to Train Your Dragon in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.