How to Train Your Dragon will fly into movie theaters this weekend and begin its battle to turn a profit, aided by its generally positive reception so far. The latest in the live-action remake trend in Hollywood and DreamWorks’ first try at this type of project, 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon is said to follow beat-for-beat the story of 2010’s animated iteration about an outcast Viking who befriends a dragon amid a war between Vikings and dragons. How to Train Your Dragon‘s early reviews say that it captures the spirit of the story while being enhanced by the live-action visuals.

In particular, ScreenRant‘s Sarah Moran says that How to Train Your Dragon “[pairs] that excellent story with some truly gorgeous visuals and wonderful performances,” including Gerard Butler returning to the role of Stoick, with Mason Thames and Nico Parker taking over the parts of Hiccup and Astrid. After Lilo & Sтιтch‘s resounding box-office success proved that live-action remakes are still a lucrative venture, How to Train Your Dragon is poised to be the next big family-friendly summer blockbuster, standing a decent chance of making back its mᴀssive budget.

How To Train Your Dragon’s Budget Is Reportedly $150 Million

HTTYD Has An Average Budget For LA Remakes

According to ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, the new How to Train Your Dragon cost $150 million to make, after tax credits for filming in Ireland. This is unsurprising given the significant CGI and aerial action involved in the story, as well as some expensive cast members. This also lands How to Train Your Dragon in the middle ground in terms of recent live-action remake budgets. 2025’s Snow White flopped for many reasons, but one of them was certainly its staggering $209 million budget being impossible to surpᴀss. Snow White‘s worldwide gross came to only $205.6 million (via Box Office Mojo).

On the other hand, Lilo & Sтιтch had more moderate production costs of around $100 million total, then went on to earn $775.8 million worldwide (Box Office Mojo as of June 2025). Lilo & Sтιтch actually would have made a profit even if it had cost as much to make as Snow White or How to Train Your Dragon. With How to Train Your Dragon in a position more like Lilo & Sтιтch than Snow White heading into its opening weekend, its chances of swiftly breaking even appear good.

How To Train Your Dragon’s Opening Weekend Box Office Projections

The New HTTYD Is Almost Certainly Going To Be A Franchise Best

As of this week, ᴅᴇᴀᴅline is projecting How to Train Your Dragon to gross $65 to $75 million domestically during its first weekend in theaters, but says not to “be shocked if this beloved тιтle overperforms.” Earlier box office projections for How to Train Your Dragon estimated $80 to $100 million (via boxofficepro.com), so predictions have gotten slightly more modest. $65 million would notably be a bigger opening weekend than any of the animated How to Train Your Dragon movies, the top number currently being $55 million for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.

On the other hand, Lilo & Sтιтch grossed $146 million its opening weekend (which was a holiday weekend). How to Train Your Dragon doesn’t look like it’s going to be the highest-grossing movie of the summer, but it is set to have a strong opening that will likely continue for at least a month. Armed with genuinely good reviews and family-friendly content, it will attract a lot of people to the theaters, with most kids being out of school now also serving as a bonus. It will still have a ways to go before it breaks even, but the outlook is positive.

How To Train Your Dragon Needs To Make Over $375 Million To Be A Box Office Success

HTTYD Will Probably Need A Few Weeks To Become Profitable

The rule of thumb is that a movie needs to make 2.5x its budget to break even, with marketing costs factored in, meaning How to Train Your Dragon‘s primary box office goal is $375 million. ᴅᴇᴀᴅline also reports that tjhe movie is predicted to gross $110 million worldwide its first weekend, which would be a good start. Within a couple of weeks, How to Train Your Dragon should be in the clear, and can start making money for DreamWorks properly. It certainly looks as though it’s going to be a great first live-action remake for the studio — but nothing is set in stone yet.

Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Box Office Mojo, boxofficepro.com