At least the live-action How to Train Your Dragon nails one big thing

Petrana Radulovic is an entertainment reporter specializing in animation, fandom culture, theme parks, Disney, and young adult fantasy franchises.

Like many live-action adaptations of beloved animated movies, How to Train Your Dragon has an uphill battle ahead. But the first trailer proves it’s one very big thing right: Toothless the dragon looks good.

Instead of opting for a hyper-realistic dragon devoid of all cuteness, it seems the filmmakers know exactly what it is that makes Toothless so damn endearing. So he looks almost the same in design, except with more realistic texture befitting of “real” life. For better or worse, the initial meeting between Toothless and Hiccup seems to play out almost exactly like it does in the original. But when John Powell’s familiar score soars, it’s a little hard not to be swept away into a world of dragon riding.

How to Train Your Dragon is based on the 2010 DreamWorks animated movie of the same name, itself loosely based on a children’s book series by Cressida Cowell. It follows a young, outcast Viking teenager who befriends one of the dragons that his village regularly battles.

Unlike the horde of Disney live-action remakes, How to Train Your Dragon is directed by the original movie’s director, Dean DeBlois (incidentally, also one of the original directors of Lilo & Stitch, which is also slated for a live-action remake next year — but he’s not directing that one). It stars Mason Thames (The Black Phone) as misfit Viking-turned-dragon-trainer Hiccup and Nico Parker (The Last of Us) as badass Viking warrior Astrid, with Gerard Butler reprising his role from the animated series as Viking chieftain Stoick the Vast.

How to Train Your Dragon flies into theaters on June 13, 2025.