Causing much controversy, How to Train Your Dragon (2025) still earns "huge" revenue

The 2025 film chose to remake the original almost exactly, causing critics to split between praise and criticism. However, the work began to make a profit in its second week of release, expected to reach $800 million.

Toothless and Hiccup face off for the first time. (Image from the 2025 live-action film)

The 2025 live- action “How to Train Your Dragon” affirms the value of a good story and effective storytelling, despite being a nearly exact remake of a 15-year-old film. This is both the reason the film is loved and the reason it is controversial.

Released in mid-June in more than 45 countries, “How to Train Your Dragon” has consistently topped the box office charts in many major markets such as the US, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, etc. As of June 24, the film had surpassed $359 million in global revenue, according to Box Office Mojo.

In Vietnam, "How to Train Your Dragon" was released on June 13, the live-action version earned more than 42 billion VND (Box Office Vietnam data) and reached "top 1" in its opening week.

In the second week, despite being overwhelmed by a new work ( Ut Lan ), the film still proved its position in the children's segment against Disney's "Lilo and Stitch" (live-action version), Pixar's "Elio" and domestic films such as "Trang Quynh nhi: Truyen thuy Kim Nguu."

Trailer for the live-action "How to Train Your Dragon" movie (2025):

“How to Train Your Dragon” is based on the original story by Cressida Cowell, telling the story of a Viking teenager named Hiccup (Mason Thames) and his unlikely friendship with a dragon named Toothless. In this world , dragons and Vikings consider each other mortal enemies.

Because he cannot use his physical strength to defeat the dragon, Hiccup is looked down upon by the villagers, especially since he is the son of the clan leader (Gerard Butler). However, with his intelligence, altruism, and sometimes even his own life, the young man not only proves his ability to subdue the dragons, but also resolves the hatred between the two sides so that they can live in peace .

Even in its animated form, “How to Train Your Dragon” has many reasons to be loved. From Toothless – the star of the film, a mischievous cat-loyal dog hybrid, both approachable and mysterious and fierce – to the story and human characters that are deep, inspiring and self-confident.

"How to Train Your Dragon" animated version in 2010. (Photo: DreamWorks)

Guardian writer Peter Bradshaw commented that it was “a fun family film, with some great flying scenes, that gives a delightfully realistic sense of the dangers involved in risking one's life for another.”

Beautiful visuals, magnificent natural landscapes and vivid battle scenes. “How to Train Your Dragon” has a 99% fresh tomato score from 210 reviews from experts on the Rotten Tomatoes platform.

15 years later, the live action version was remade with the same content. The film's budget was announced at 150 million USD, lower than the animated version - 165 million USD, but still invested meticulously in costumes, makeup, and character design.

The film's director Dean DeBlois (who is also the animation director) shared that he wanted to delve a little deeper into the characters, to enrich the experience, to make the action scenes and flying scenes more intense and immersive.

However, the decision to remake the film "exactly" from the animated version divided critics into two halves, those who supported and those who did not.

Supporters praised the film for its faithfulness to the original spirit, with impressive CGI effects. AP praised the film for its good recreation of the animation spirit, the realistic and deep visuals of the dragons in general and Toothless in particular. Entertaimnet Weekly and Film Focus Online praised both the audio and visual aspects, along with the excellent music by John Powell…

The new film version has sparked much controversy for being uncreative and "too safe." (Photo from the film)

Along with that, there are opinions that the live-action version lacks innovation and creativity, and is too safe, so it chose to follow the "shot-for-shot" method (same scene as each scene). Loud and Clear commented that the film evokes a feeling of "already seen" and is very easy to forget.

Entertainment site The Wrap commented that the relationship between the characters is not as natural as the original film, claiming that the decision to make a humanized version is just a revenue-generating strategy.

Despite the mixed reviews, “How to Train Your Dragon” is still one of the top choices for audiences of all ages to go to the cinema this summer. The film’s revenue is expected to continue to increase, reaching 650-800 million USD - surpassing the original film (495 million USD)./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/gay-nhieu-tranh-cai-bi-kip-luyen-rong-2025-van-kiem-doanh-thu-dam-post1046010.vnp