5 Reasons why the How to Train Your Remedial Dragon at the Box Office

It was a big weekend at the Box Office and, once again, it was all thanks to a big family-friendly film-more specifically, a live-active redo from an animated favorite. New Dreamworks and Universal’s are taking “How to Train Your Dragon” hitting theaters over the weekend and did very well for itself, proving that the business has a whole-acting live-acting business still in the tank.

Director Dean Dean Deblois “How to Train Your Dragon” at the top of the box office estimated $ 83.7 million domestically. Even better for Universal, the film performed significantly stronger abroad, taking in $ 114.1 million in for the start of a world -eag $ 197.8 million. Even against a $ 150 million generation budget and significant world marketing expenditure, that’s a very good appearance. Did not hurt that the competition was relatively light, with “lilo & stitch” slowing down a little and last weekend “John Wick” derived “Ballerina” falls off a cliff after an already great opening. Everything worked in favor of this film.

So, what went right, exactly? How did Universal successfully remove this remake from the 15-year-old modern animated classic? And how did he stand out so successfully even among the overcrowded summer release calendar? We’re going to look at the biggest reasons why “how to train your dragon” managed the box office on her opening weekend. Let’s get into it.

Films rarely reach this level of success without critics on their side. To that end, at present “How to Train Your Dragon” holds a critical approval rating of 78% on Rotten tomatoes. Although not almost as high as its animated predecessor, that is good enough to produce some positive thrill. More importantly, however, general audiences seem to love the film, with the audience score sitting on 98%Serol. He also won cinemascore. Those are almost universal love levels from the people actually coming off the couch to buy tickets.

/Ethan Anderton Film called the “How to train your dragon” Redo -do the “Motion Photo equivalent to turning tacos into Nachos,” in his reviewWrite it “better” than most Disney live-acting redo, if it is still a bit unnecessary in a creative sense. So, yes, there is some cynicism on behalf of some critics and cinemas about these redoing of these animated favorites. Whether it’s like, general audiences eat this one up and, at the end of the day, that’s who Universal aims to please. The fact that critics are largely right with the film while filmmakers worship that it is about responding as well as anyone could hope for it with an initiative like this.

One of the biggest factors contributing to the success of this redoing early is the fact that Universal has been able to maintain the global audience for “How to Train Your Dragon” with the change from animation to living action. There is often a heavy focus on the United States as far as a box office is concerned, but such large films rely heavily on the world -wide theatrical market to become successful. In this case, international audiences were the key.

“How to Train Your Dragon” had been tracking to make as much as $ 77 million before release. He blew past those projections in North America. More importantly, the previous animated movies “How to train your dragon” is they sees such a dramatic split between its domestic and international ticket sales, but it is

In fact, people all over the world love teeth and hiccup alike. They showed and tested that in a significant way over the weekend. With the response is what it is, this film is in a position to have very long legs in the coming weeks as well. When everything has said and done (but without getting too previous to ourselves), we could be looking at one of the biggest world seizures this year.

I am not interested in opening a debate on the subject, but one thing that has been made very clear about the redo “How to train your dragon” is that Dean Deblois, who also co-directed the original film, remained very loyal to the animated classic … so much that some could question why anyone might bother spending $ 150 million is already a redo. At the end of the day, however, the number who voted for this re -making at the opening weekend almost says it. People love the original film, and if it’s not broken, don’t repair it.

Yes, There are some differences between the animated and active versions of “How to Train Your Dragon,” But they are not substantial. Universal Greenlit this film because she was part of a dear billion-doler franchise and, well, there was money to make from it. In the meantime, Deblois directed him because he clearly wanted to make sure she stayed true to the film she made 15 years ago. Although a conversation is sure to have it about the artistic qualities of the re -making, it is clear that audiences still love this story and its characters. It is also clear that staying true to what worked before and not doing something too different was the right call, at least of dollars and Sent Pov.

One thing that has truly proven himself over and over again over the last handful of years is the value of a family film that pleases the crowd at the box office. 2025 has been huge in this, with “How to Train Your Dragon” serving as the latest example only. “A Minecraft Movie” also had one of the biggest openings for this year’s Hollywood movie And since then he has made more than $ 950 million worldwide, he got the largest total for any American film in 2025. “Lilo & Stitch” (another live-action from an animated favorite) a similar monster size opening and has since grossed more than $ 850 million worldwide. It is very likely to join the $ 1 billion club.

These are far from the only examples that come to mind, with films like “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” “Wonka,” And, of course, Pixar’s monster hit “Inside Out 2,” After doing Boffo business as well. Family films, when properly implemented, can be a gold mine at present, partly thanks to the lower competition in that area but also due to volume. After all, when whole families go to the theater, that means multiple tickets are purchased immediately for a weekend trip, rather than one ticket at a time. Where the films of superheroes were once the odd favorites to become automatic obstacles in the 2010s, it seems that family films that successfully cast the widest possible net have taken their place since then.

It’s no secret that Disney has made billions of dollars over the last 15 years by releasing a live-active redoing from its classic animated films. That doesn’t always go out, with “Snow White” has become one of the biggest fires of 2025 so far. That said, the huge success of “Lilo & Stitch,” as well as “Mufasa: The Lion King,” 2024, proves that that is more of an exception rather than the rule.

More to the point, Universal and Dreamworks decided that Disney was not the only studio that could get into what has proven to be a very good business model. “How to Train Your Dragon” is a valuable property that now has multiple fan generations for its name (with theme parks, animated shows, and goods in progress after going with the films). Based on a Disney playbook, that makes it a strong choice for a live-active remake, and the early numbers suggest that is a good decision. There’s a reason Live action “How to train your Dragon 2” is already firm at work.

Universal was well deserved confidently about what he had, which means he now has a possible path for another popular film trilogy. Success is more difficult to draw at the box office than it has ever been. That’s why this film exists and why it gets a sequel. In fact, all that is surprising about this is the fact that it took so long for another big Hollywood player to do what Disney had done so successfully for more than a decade.

“How to train your dragon” is in theaters now.