The first trailer for the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie has landed, and fans are already getting emotional over semi-realistic Toothless.
Initially, those who love the animated adaptations of Cressida Cowell’s book series were worried about the creature’s design, noting that the dragons would look a little uncanny if their computer-generated looks jarred with the real-life actors – but it seems they’ve been won over by the first promo. Watch it above.
“I have to admit that the CGI for Toothless and the dragons are looking pretty good,” said one viewer, as another gushed: “TOOTHLESS IS SO BEAUTIFUL.”
“Absolute peak. Toothless looks insane,” tweeted a third.
Based on Cowell’s book series, the animated film follows Hiccup, an awkward young Viking who nurses an injured dragon, who happens to be a Night Fury, one of the most feared kinds, back to health. Subsequently, he forms an unbreakable bond with the creature, fondly naming him Toothless, and sets out to put an end to his village’s tradition of slaying the winged beasts. It went on to spawn two sequels: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World (2019).
In the new movie, The Black Phone’s Mason Thames portrays Hiccup, while Nick Frost, Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2), Ruth Codd (The Fall of the House of Usher), and Nico Parker (The Last of Us) round out the supporting cast.
Not everyone was convinced by the trailer, however. “So they literally just took every shot from the original cartoon and remade it with CGI dragons/real people, scene by scene? That it?” wrote one doubter, as another argued: “Seems like a total pointless waste to just retread the original animated movie. Imagine if they actually went and did the same thing they originally did, and made another completely different interpretation of the book, or even just a closer adaptation.”
How to Train Your Dragon flies into cinemas on June 13. While we wait, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies heading our way.