How Gerard Butler Reacted To The Live-Action How To Train Your Dragon Movie

Not that Disney invented live-action remakes of animated movies, but the studio largely popularized the concept. Disney started making $1 billion hits in the 2010s like Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and it’s been big business for them ever since. It was only natural that other studios would eventually follow suit. To that end, Universal and DreamWorks are bringing a live-action remake of “How to Train Your Dragon” to theaters this summer. Whether or not it can live up to the original remains to be seen, but at least one of the movie’s stars is impressed.

Gerard Butler voiced the Viking leader Stoick in the “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy, and he’s reprising the role in the remake. Even though most of the original voice cast has been replaced in the live-action version, Butler, with some makeup and the right costume, looked the part enough to be able to return. In a recent conversation with The Direct, the actor revealed that he recently saw a cut of the film. To his eye, it’s jaw-dropping. As he explained:

“I just saw a rough cut. So there really were maybe 20% special effects done. And I get goosebumps when I think about it. It was so amazing and so powerful. And then you see parts of it where they are closer to being done, and your jaw just drops.”

Dean DeBlois, who helmed the animated films, is in the director’s chair for the remake as well. That certainly helps matters, and it’s a rare thing for these remakes. Butler, speaking further, explained that it all feels more real this time around. He said:

“The best way for me to describe it is, I made three of those movies over many years, and I always wondered, I love the animated movies, but I always wondered, ‘God, what if this was real? What if we were really there, real people, real dragons?’ And we had a chance to do that, to make it real. And I think that is one of the main differences.”

Fans are pretty precious about the “How to Train Your Dragon” movies. They’re considered to be some of the best movies about dragons ever made. To put it kindly, these remakes aren’t always as good as their animated counterparts, so there is reason to be trepidatious. That said, Butler also explained that the dragons themselves, by virtue of being CGI creations interacting with real people, make them feel scarier. He elaborated:

“When a dragon is breathing fire over a bunch of actual Viking men and women running, it feels a lot more scary than when it was animated. You have a little more you can distance yourself, but this feels much more involved and just immersive … I’m so excited to see how it is when it’s finished because I think every second is going to be precious.”

Does scary mean better? That’s hard to say, but it does add something. The first trailer for the live-action “How to Train Your Dragon” looked like a carbon copy of the original. In the eyes of certain viewers, that might make it seem pointless. Perhaps once the full film comes out, the picture will come into focus, and DeBlois can help to justify its existence as more than a cash grab. Butler’s comments are encouraging, taken at face value.

The film centers on the Vikings of the Isle of Berk. They have been bigger enemies with dragons for generations. Hiccup (Mason Thames) stands apart, as the son of Chief Stoick the Vast (Butler) defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the foundations of this long-standing Viking society.

Aside from Butler and Thames, the cast also includes Nick Frost (“Hot Fuzz”), Nico Parker (“The Last of Us”), Julian Dennison (“Godzilla vs. Kong”), Bronwyn James (“Wicked”), Harry Trevaldwyn (“The Acolyte”), Ruth Codd (“The Midnight Club”), Peter Serafinowicz (“The Tick”), and Murray McArthur (“Wonka”).

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