Gerard Butler, the Scottish actor and film producer, shared his first impression of the reimagined How to Train Your Dragon world, highlighting the drastic change in the tone of the beloved franchise.
In an interview with The Direct, the 300 star discussed how the live-action adaptation is more “scarier” than the animated version.
“When a dragon is breathing fire over a bunch of actual Viking men and women running, it feels a lot more scary than when it was animated,” he explained. “You have a little more you can distance yourself, but this feels much more involved and just immersive.”
Revealing his experience of filming the scenes he excitedly added, “I get goose bumps when I think about it. It was so amazing and so powerful.”
The 55-year-old actor, who reprises his role as Stoick the Vast, explained how the live-action fulfils his long-held dream of living in a world with dragons.
“I love the animated movies, but I always wondered, ‘God, what if this was real? What if we were really there, real people, real dragons?’ And we had a chance to do that, to make it real,” he told the outlet.
The upcoming remake wasn’t constricted to just special effects but extended beyond to the physical demands of production.
In a previous interview, the Den of Thieves actor revealed the challenge of bringing Stoick to life describing his costume as “five pieces of hell” noting hours of hours of daily preparation it required.
However, despite the hurdles the actor admitted the production left him mesmerised, saying, “Your jaw just drops.”
In addition to Gerard Butler, the new adaptation stars Mason Thames as Hiccup and Nicco Parker as Astrid.
The How to Train Your Dragon is slated for release on June 13th, 2025.
