'How To Train Your Dragon': Mason Thames And Nico Paker Board As Leads

How to Train Your Dragon. Courtesy of Universal Pictures.

After the internet was given its time to spew out endless fancasts, Universal Pictures announced that the live-action How to Train Your Dragon film has found its lead actors in Mason Thames and Nico Parker.

Thames, who recently starred in 2021’s The Black Phone, has joined the film as Hiccup, son of village chief Stoick the Vast and the protagonist of the film, who trains a dragon. Parker, most notably known for her role as Joel’s daughter Sarah in The Last of Us, has been cast as Astrid, one of the film’s main characters and the primary love interest for Hiccup.

The film is set to be written and directed by Dean DeBlois who helmed the original animated trilogy, with Marc Platt and Adam Siegel of Marc Platt Productions producing. Universal’s Vice President of Production Development Lexi Barta will oversee the film on the studio side.

With How to Train Your Dragon aiming for a release on March, 14, 2025, production will need to be underway soon. We’ve learned from sources close to the project that the team is aiming to begin filming in August, and is currently preparing locations in Belfast for production.