As they move ahead with their plan to make a live-action version of How To Train Your Dragon, DreamWorks Animation and Universal have tracked down the people to play main characters Hiccup and Astrid in the film. The Black Phone's Mason Thames and The Last Of Us' Nico Parker have landed the roles.
The original trilogy of movies used the books by Cressida Cowell as a jumping off point and focused on the special friendship between a young and unheroic Viking boy named Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and Toothless, an injured dragon he nurses back to health. The movies told Hiccup and Toothless’ quest to combat humanity’s prejudice against dragons, the ache of overcoming the loss of a parent, and first love. With critical appreciation and success at the box office, the film has also spawned several spin-off TV series. Astrid in the animated films was voiced by America Ferrera.
Reassuringly, writer/director Dean DeBlois, who has been the guiding force for the big screen trilogy, will be back to oversee the live-action version, which will have to tread a fine line bringing particularly the loveable toothless into the CG/live-action realm. The new film is scheduled for release on 14 March, 2025.