Filming for How to train your dragon It wasn’t a simple process for star Gerard Butler. The next How to train your dragon the remake is currently in development and is expected to be released in June 2025. Filming wrapped in May 2024, and the months since then have been dedicated to editing, CGI, and visual effects work. The film will feature an all-new cast, featuring Mason Thames as Hiccup and Nico Parker as Astrid. Butler is expected to be the only actor to reprise his role in the animated films, as well as he will appear as Stoick the Vast.
Butler spoke with Collider about the production and revealed a funny but arduous anecdote. Production took place in Northern Ireland from January to May, where it often falls at sub-zero temperatures. Butler took ice baths every morning by choice and then began filming. The other actors were shaking, but Butler said he was wearing a costume so heavy that “it was like a furnace there.“ Despite the ice bath, Butler was hotter than any other star. Check out his full story below:
Yes, it was very cold and a bit miserable because we went at the worst time. It was December, or it really started in January. I had a hotel room that had glass near my bathtub and for some reason I decided I would take an ice bath every morning. So at five in the morning, my [physical therapist] – because I’m like, “I’m not going to put ice in the bathtub,” – I would go in and fill my bathtub with ice, and I would get into this ice bathtub, but outside it would be dark with the wind blowing, soaking wet. You know how cold it was. At least if you’re taking an ice bath and you’re in Los Angeles, the sky is blue. It was like, “I’m getting into this.”
But I had seven layers, thick layers and a thick beard, and then I had a kind of bear or wolf skin on top.. It was fucking heavy. When I had my sword and my shield and the helmet, which was heavy, and all those layers with clasps that went around, it weighed 90 pounds, my fantasy. I was, in the middle of the coldest day, drenched in sweat inside because it felt like a furnace in there. So I guess I had the advantage of… rarely being cold while everyone else was like this. I was like, “Yeah, my beard is falling out from sweat.” You have to put it back in place. My eyebrows were falling out. I had to hold it back because I was sweating a lot.
What Butler’s quote means for the live-action remake
Costumes must be very realistic
As horrible as it was to be sweaty, Butler’s filming challenges bode well for the film. After all, if the suit was thick enough to keep him warm in the frozen environment, then it would probably be quite realistic to what real Vikings might have worn. Real-world Vikings had to rely on tunics, leather, and buckles to ensure they could stay warm as they raided along the water and were buffeted by winds. Butler’s costume appears to have kept him warm in similar conditions.
The live action How to train your dragon The cast will need to stay true to the animated original, but that in itself could be quite a challenge. However, Butler’s commentary also provides some details about his live-action appearance as Stoick the Vast. With the mention of the thick beard, layered clothing, and armorIt looks like his live-action Stoick will look close to the original animated version’s image. With the first look at the live-action Hiccup already released online, it’s only a matter of time before more photos of the remaining cast, including Butler, become available.
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That was always going to be a challenge.
Some films are much easier to adapt to a live-action setting. Many of Disney’s upcoming live-action remakes, including Robin Hoodthey lend themselves well to a remake format with minimal need for excessive CGI. A movie about dragons, however, will inevitably face the same visual effects and budget problems as Dragon House has faced. Producing a live action How to train your dragon was always going to be a challenge for the Stars, and Butler’s willingness to wear such a limiting costume is proof that they are up to the task.
Source: Collider