Director Dean DeBlois has taken to social media to announced that principal photography on the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon 2 has wrapped after just 81 days.
"On to post production," the director said. "See you in June of '27!"
The announcement was accompanied by an image that shows a close-up shot of Hiccup holding on to the hilt of his fire sword, called Inferno. The sword was first introduced in the animated version of How to Train your Dragon 2 in 2014 and featured more prominently in 2019's The Hidden World where it became Hiccup's go-to weapon alongside Toothless.
While a sword is typically reflective of a warrior personality, the fact that Hiccup engineered it himself emphasizes his inventory personality. We see him craft the sword in the 2016 television series Dragons: Race to the Edge.
A retractable, split-blade sword made from Gronckle Iron, the Inferno sword is notable for its two-sided functionality: one side is coated with Monstrous Nightmare gel that can be ignited into a flaming sword, while the other side can release Hideous Zippleback gas that can create as a smokescreen or be ignited for explosions.
It doesn't just serve as a weapon of combat either. Igniting the Nightmare saliva mimics actual dragon fire, which causes wild dragons to perceive him as one of their own, doubling as a communication and pacification tool.
The live-action How to Train Your Dragon was an adaptation of the beloved 2010 animated film from Universal and DreamWorks. Original trilogy director Dean DeBlois returned to write and direct the remake,w hich was met with positive response from critics and fans alike.
The film was viewed as a faithful remake, preserving the story structure, character relationships, and emotional core of the original animated movie. Some critics argued that it was maybe a bit too faithful, knocking it as more of a shot-for-shot remake rather than a reinterpretation of the story.
That decision to stick closely to the source material seemed to pay off in the end with the live-action film earning over $636 million at the worldwide box office. Universal fast-tracked the sequel, which is due to release in theaters on June 11, 2027.
DeBlois once again returns to the director's chair alongside with most of the main cast from the first movie including Mason Thames as Hiccup, Nico Parker as Astrid, Gerard Butler as Stoick, Nick Frost as Gobber, and Julian Dennison as Fishlegs. Cate Blanchett is also reprising her role as Valka, Hiccup's mother, after voicing the character in the animated movies.