How to Train Your Dragon will soon surpᴀss the box office earnings of the animated film as it pᴀsses another impressive milestone. While audiences have mixed feelings about live-action remakes, they often find success at the box office. DreamWorks’ first foray into the live-action remake realm has been a major success so far, and it keeps improving.
In its third weekend of release, How to Train Your Dragon was finally dethroned from the No. 1 spot by F1: The Movie, a sports blockbuster starring Brad Pitt. However, HTTYD still took second place, bringing in $19.4 million. According to Variety, the DreamWorks film has now reached $200.5 million domestically, and has pᴀssed $450 million at the worldwide box office, with a total of $454.5 million.
After this latest milestone, the live-action remake is now about $17 million away from pᴀssing the 2010 animated film domestically and about $40 million from pᴀssing it worldwide. Once it pᴀsses its predecessor, 2025’s HTTYD will be the highest-grossing film in the franchise.
What This Box Office Milestone Means For How To Train Your Dragon
It’s A Mᴀssive Win For DreamWorks
Disney has dominated the live-action remake trend, but DreamWorks has now emerged as a worthy contender. Despite criticism for being an almost sH๏τ-for-sH๏τ remake, How to Train Your Dragon has still won over audiences and critics, scoring a 77% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. It may not reach Lilo & Sтιтch numbers, but it will still be profitable for Universal and DreamWorks.
With a $150 million budget, the film is already a box office success and will only increase its earnings before it ends its theatrical run. Universal had confidence in the remake before its release, announcing a How to Train Your Dragon 2 two months before it premiered. Its current box office success means the sequel should perform well, and increases the likelihood that DreamWorks will complete the trilogy.
Another likely outcome is that DreamWorks will look to make live-action remakes of its other properties. This could include Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, or The Croods. While they don’t have the same catalog as Disney, that doesn’t mean they won’t try to capitalize on HTTYD‘s success.
Our Take On How To Train Your Dragon’s Success
The Franchise Is More Popular Than Ever
While HTTYD has been one of DreamWorks’ most successful franchises, it may be more lucrative than one might expect. 2025 has been the year of the dragon. As the remake continues to move up the box office charts, audiences are also immersing themselves in the Isle of Berk, a new land which recently opened at Epic Universe in Orlando, FL.
The park gives fans of the franchise an amazing opportunity to ride one of Hiccup’s dragon-flying prototypes, meet Toothless, and buy as much food and merchandise as they want. It’s proof that millions of people love this franchise, and are willing to show up to theaters or theme parks to relive their nostalgia.
It may have started in 2010, but How to Train Your Dragon‘s popularity is still increasing every day. If the sequels are as strong at recreating what people loved about the original films, then the live-action trilogy should be even more profitable than its animated counterpart.
Source: Variety
