Universal is full steam ahead in bringing its iconic animated trilogy How To Train Your Dragon into live-action. And it seems like they got one major addition to the cast, who is quite familiar with the material. Gerard Butler will join the live-action adaptation as Hiccup’s father. This is not his first time playing the role, as he also voiced him in the animated films. He’ll join Mason Thames and Nico Parker, who are taking on the roles of Hiccup and Astrid in Dean DeBlois‘ film.
Disney has become infamous for a live-action adaptation of their classic Disney properties, so there are some concerns about what Universal has planned with a live-action adaptation of their animated film from 2010. It is great though to see them bring back some familiar faces to once again play their characters and it has the original director involved, as Dean DeBlois also worked on the animated projects based on the 2003 book series.
Butler’s return also opens up the question of how close they will try to stick to the original designs, or simply try to make the live-action its distinct project. They can re-use similar elements and the overall story, but they can still try to give it a more distinct visual identity to make it stand out. However, who knows if we might also see others from the animated film return in the live-action adaptation.
Source: Deadline
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