How to Train Your Dragon 2 Live-Action: Release Date, Cast, Plot & Everything We Know

Universal is betting big on the dragon franchise, and the payoff keeps getting closer. The studio has locked a release date, a full returning cast, and a slate of exciting new additions for the live-action How to Train Your Dragon 2, the follow-up to 2025’s hugely successful live-action reboot. With production now underway, here is everything we know about the sequel so far — from the release date and cast to the story beats fans should expect.

Release Date: June 11, 2027

The live-action How to Train Your Dragon 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on June 11, 2027. That gives Universal and DreamWorks a prime early-summer slot, the same window that served the first live-action film so well. Notably, the sequel was greenlit at CinemaCon in April 2025 — before the first live-action movie had even been released. That early confidence was rewarded: the 2025 film opened with an estimated $84.6 million domestically and $197.6 million worldwide, and went on to join the exclusive club of 2025 releases that crossed the $550 million global mark, eventually settling around $560 million-plus worldwide. It became the highest-grossing entry in the entire franchise, edging past the animated original.

That box office performance explains why Universal moved so quickly. The live-action How to Train Your Dragon was a rare remake that actually justified its existence — a visually stunning, faithful-but-fresh take on a beloved story that brought in new fans without alienating the old ones. A sequel was never really in doubt.

Cast: The Gang Is Back, Plus Two Big Additions

Dean DeBlois, who wrote and directed the original animated trilogy and the 2025 live-action film, returns to write, direct, and executive produce the sequel. Marc Platt produces through his Universal-based Marc Platt Productions alongside Adam Siegel, with Lexi Barta overseeing for the studio.

In front of the camera, the core cast is back. Mason Thames returns as Hiccup, Nico Parker as Astrid, and Gerard Butler reprises his role as Stoick the Vast — the same part he voiced in all three animated films. The rest of the Berk gang is also returning: Julian Dennison as Fishlegs, Gabriel Howell as Snotlout, Bronwyn James as Ruffnut, and Harry Trevaldwyn as Tuffnut, with Nick Frost back as Gobber.

The sequel also adds two significant new names. Cate Blanchett, who voiced Hiccup’s long-lost mother Valka in the 2014 animated film, will finally play the character in live action — a casting choice that delighted fans when it was announced. And Deadline broke the news that Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, known to audiences from Severance, will portray the villain Drago Bludvist. Ólafsson is having quite a year: he’s also been cast as Thor in Prime Video’s upcoming God of War series. Joining him is Phil Dunster of Ted Lasso fame, who will play Eret, son of Eret, the cocky dragon trapper who crosses paths with Hiccup and Astrid.

Story: A Mother, a Warlord, and a Light Fury

If the sequel follows the animated How to Train Your Dragon 2 — and everything we’ve heard so far suggests it will — the story picks up five years after the first film. Berk and the dragons are at peace, and Hiccup and Toothless spend their days mapping unexplored lands. But Hiccup’s father Stoick is pressuring him to step up as the village’s future chief, a responsibility Hiccup isn’t sure he’s ready for.

That internal conflict gets interrupted in a hurry. While investigating a burnt forest, Hiccup and Astrid are ambushed by dragon trappers led by Eret, who works for Drago Bludvist — a warlord who has figured out how to dominate dragons through fear, using an alpha dragon (a Bewilderbeast) to force every other dragon into submission. Along the way, Hiccup discovers the franchise’s biggest emotional reveal: his mother Valka, long presumed dead after a dragon carried her away, is alive and has spent years living among the dragons, learning to coexist with them. Hiccup, it turns out, gets his nurturing way with dragons from her.

Fans of the animated film will also remember that HTTYD 2 introduced the Light Fury — essentially a white, wild counterpart to Toothless who becomes his potential mate. That’s another highlight to look forward to in the live-action version.

The animated How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) remains one of DreamWorks’ most acclaimed films — it won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature and earned an Oscar nomination — so the live-action team has a strong blueprint to work from. For anyone who loved the 2025 movie, the sequel is shaping up to be a bigger, more emotional story with the same visual splendor.

Production Status: Cameras Are Rolling

Production on the sequel is officially underway. Filming was expected to begin around November 2025, and by August 2026 reports of on-set activity confirmed that cameras are rolling. That timeline puts the June 2027 release comfortably in reach, with post-production and visual effects — the franchise’s signature — presumably well scheduled. Given how much of the film’s magic depends on photorealistic dragon animation, the VFX pipeline is a big part of why the studio announced the sequel so far in advance.

There’s also been a reminder that even big-budget fantasy productions carry real risks: Deadline reported that a crew member was injured in an accident during production, a sobering note amid all the excitement. For now, the project remains on schedule, and no release-date changes have been announced.

Why This Sequel Matters

The live-action How to Train Your Dragon was one of the most successful remakes of recent years, proving that animated classics can translate to live action when filmmakers treat the source material with genuine respect. DeBlois’s involvement — he’s steered this franchise from the beginning — gives the sequel creative continuity that most remakes lack. This isn’t a studio mining IP with a hired-gun director; it’s the original storyteller continuing his saga with a bigger canvas.

For audiences, the sequel also arrives at a moment when the family blockbuster needs reliable tentpoles. HTTYD 2 is positioned to be one of 2027’s biggest events for families, fantasy fans, and anyone who has ever been moved by the bond between a boy and his dragon. If you haven’t caught up with the live-action version yet, the How to Train Your Dragon (2025) film is a great starting point, and the franchise’s earlier installments — How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World — hold up beautifully if you want the full animated journey before the live-action sequel lands.

The Bottom Line

Everything about the live-action How to Train Your Dragon 2 points to a sequel that could rival or even surpass its predecessor: a proven director, a beloved cast, a richer story, and a studio that clearly believes in the franchise’s staying power. Mark June 11, 2027 on your calendar — Berk is going back to the big screen, and Toothless is ready for round two.