Still has to overcome the profitability barrier, but the live-action version of the famous DreamWorks movie
How to Train Your Dragon
It’s an authentic box office success. The fantasy movie not only marked the best opening of the entire franchise in its first weekend at the box office, but also, in the second, it became again the most-watched film of the weekend, ahead of the also highly anticipated
Massacre 3
.
After its premiere on June 12, How to Train Your Dragon only needed one weekend at the box office to enter the Top 10 highest-grossing films of 2025 and continued to climb positions. Similarly, the film is also one of the top 10 all-time openings for a live-action remake.
Again directed by
Dean DeBlois
, in charge of animated films, the main mission of How to Train Your Dragon was precisely this:
Create another version, but not one that replaces the animated movie
, as explained by the director. A version that preserved
the best aspects of the original adding good, subtle and significant improvements
.
For this, one of the fundamental elements would be the cast, with
Mason Thames
e
Nico Parker
being chosen for the main characters of Hiccup and Astrid, who fully accomplished their mission.
Completely dedicated to his role as Sulk, Mason Thames acknowledged that the DreamWorks movie was very special in his childhood and that portraying the character was a dream. Therefore, the 17-year-old actor did not hesitate for even a second to face an unpleasant situation in order to show the most realistic reaction possible in a recognizable scene from the film.
The sequence in question is one of the first interactions between Sombra and Banguela, the Night Fury with whom he ends up establishing an unbreakable bond, and one of many recreated by the new version to honor the original. In these initial moments, when Sombra tries to gain the dragon’s trust by offering him a fish, Banguela regurgitates part of it to offer it to him, leaving the young one no choice but to accept it if he wants to achieve his goal.
A funny and charismatic scene that in the live-action version is absolutely genuine, since Mason Thames’ reaction could not be more real.
As the actor would say in an interview with The New York Times, he has a dislike for any kind of fish, but he accepted to eat it in order to achieve a more realistic result:
What a nuisance! Three days earlier, they told me: ‘Okay, Mason, we have a fake fish head and we’re going to fill it with chicken, because we know you don’t like fish, or with tuna’. Chicken seemed like the right choice, but I went with tuna because I thought it would cause a better reaction, and that’s what happened
.
It was disgusting. When I took the first bite, I almost threw up.
It took me about 20 seconds to swallow completely. Dean [DeBlois] shouted ‘cut!’ and then said: ‘Perfect. I just need you to take a bigger bite’
, explained Thames.
A sequence with a genuine and real reaction that would demonstrate your absolute commitment to the character.
Read the article at radarsantri.com
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