Latest news with #Hiccup
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
How to shoot your reboot
As most parents of small children can attest, one of the world's greatest places to take a nap is a cinema. This holds particularly true if that cinema's head honchoes have had the foresight to install reclining leather seats and an industrial-strength air conditioning unit blasting out shades of the Arctic. It is why so many brave souls will fork over hard-earned money to sit through the Smurfs film this summer, probably the reason Inside Out 2 was able to rake in over a billion dollars last year, and must be why filmmakers deem it perfectly acceptable to toss out a sequel to Bad Guys next month. There is nothing that primary caregivers of young children love more than a good nap, and they are willing to pay to get it. However, if scheduling a decent daytime nap is your primary goal when you cave to child-originated requests to watch the live action remake of Dreamworks' How To Train Your Dragon at the cinema (which has already been out for about five weeks, so it is time you stopped dragging your feet), then you are urged to reconsider. No naps will be had here today. For a solid two hours, writer and director Dean DeBlois and his How To Train Your Dragon team have just one goal: to blow your mind, completely and utterly. How to make a remake You are defenceless against this incoming mind-blowiing no matter which side you are approaching this remake from. It doesn't matter if you are a taking your first baby steps into this franchise, or are a devoted fan of the animated original, or if have only the wispiest of memories of when you watched it twice 15 years ago. Whatever your current state of mind is, Gerard Butler's blue eyes - lifted straight from the animation (as is Butler himself) - will give you an electric shock. As Stoic the Vast, Butler's beautiful Scottish lilt and the soliloquies of seething frustration he spits out at his son (and our hero) Hiccup are lifted straight from the original. You will either swim in an ocean of nostalgia as memories of the original ticker-tape before you, or squirm as the tiniest hidden part of you begins to relate - for the first time - to this unreasonable mountain of a man. Stoic desperately wants his son to live up to his dragon-slaying Viking heritage, and is genuinely flabbergasted at how he can produce a boy so unlike him in every way. Fifteen years later, we may still swear our allegiance to Hiccup, but now, with Butler there in the flesh to make us understand Stoic better than ever, is it possible that we understand his growing desperation over the generation gap? You will see Vikings of unorthodox ethnicity as the cast expands to include diversity, but Stoic offers the simplest of explanations to explain as to how they came to be here in the cold and dragon-infested Isle of Berk. However, it is our most important Viking, the almost twig-like Hiccup, who will abscond with your heart. A hero in the purest form, Hiccup's struggles for acceptance will twang a chord in anyone who has ever struggled to gain acceptance, be it at school or at home or anywhere else. His story speaks to everyone in that movie theatre, whether you are the child who dragged your parents, or the parents who gave in to the child. You cannot help but adore this boy with a beautiful soul, who does everything he can to protect the dragon he once vowed to kill. If you somehow remain unmoved by the boy, the first time you see Toothless the dragon slide open one giant cat-like emerald eye, you may understand that love at first sight does, in fact, exist. It is a love that will blossom with every tentative step both boy and dragon take towards one another, and burgeon to bursting point when you take to the skies with Toothless and Hiccup for the very first time. As you soar above mountains, dive through valleys and glide over seas, you will realise only now that you are doing what neither Peter Pan nor Aladdin's magic carpet could pull off. You are flying without wings, transported far beyond the confines of your cinema leather chair. However, all of this is a moot point, regardless of whether or not you cherished that longstanding childhood ambition of flying; from the moment those opening credits roll across the screen, the music will swallow you whole with no intention of letting you go. It really doesn't matter what Stoic, Hiccup or Toothless get up to. At the end of the day, you get a gift of plaintive orchestra that conveys Vikings' struggle with dragons, a boy's bottomless love for the pet who gave him a purpose, and a dragon's undying devotion for the one person who ever understood him. Close your eyes, and you will picture it all playing out in the screen of your mind. If music could speak words, John Powell's score says as much as every word spoken by the cast - and beyond. And now, because we are also happy to include even the most reluctant filmgoer, if you still find yourself checking your Instagram notifications during this mesmerising two hours, then it is possible you are cyrogenically frozen and you are watching this as you time-travelled from a dystopian future. In which case you probably have bigger problems than one live-action remake. A final lesson If Disney could somehow learn how Dreamworks and DeBlois harness all the devotion and attention to detail that goes into creating a true faithful remake, nitpickity fans could perhaps stop complaining about the off-centre sunrise in the 2019 Lion King or the muted lifeless colours of the 2019 Aladdin. (For one thing, they wouldn't have to complain because no one filmmaker would have been idiotic enough to allow it to happen.) Because this is 2025, and we have thus already suffered through numerous Disney reboots, by now we already know that when we hear the phrase 'live-action remake', it is really code for 'soulless cash grab'. We have no one but ourselves to blame for production houses' predeliction for soulless cash grabs when it comes to children's films, because, if you recall, parents are by no means averse to very expensive naps in a dark room. DeBlois, however, is the man responsible for the first animated How To Train Your Dragon in 2010, and has thus sidestepped all these Disney-esque pitfalls to give us the direct opposite of a soulless cash grab. Instead, with consummate surgeon-like precision as he reconstructs the film shot-by-shot, he has given us, a soulful tribute - one that is emboldened with a rich orchestra and a cast and crew who treat the original with reverence it deserves. In conclusion, your dreams of that nap will, regrettably - albeit fittingly in a film featuring fire-breathing dragons - go up in smoke. Save the nap for when you are forced to go and endure Smurfs.
Tom's Guide
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
5 best new movies to watch this weekend on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu and more (July 19-20)
For this time of year, it's been a fairly quiet week for new movies across the best streaming services. But there are still plenty of options if you're looking for what to watch this weekend. Leading the pack are two premium video-on-demand offerings: DreamWorks' live-action remake of "How to Train Your Dragon" and the AI horror turned action heroine "M3GAN 2.0." On Netflix, you'll find the psychological thriller "Wall to Wall," a twist-filled slow burn with an ending you'll never see coming. Hulu just got "The Amateur," Rami Malek's divisive action thriller. And HBO Max just got a nightmarish twist on the typical romcom formula with "I Love You Forever." So without further ado, let's dive into the best new movies to watch this week on streaming. DreamWorks hopped on the live-action remake train with "How to Train Your Dragon," and it seems to be a resounding success for the studio so far, pulling in over $450 million at the box office worldwide. It may not capture all of the same charm in live-action, but the story will undoubtedly be familiar and endearing to fans of the original. In a fantastical world where Vikings and dragons are sworn enemies, everything changes after Hiccup (Mason Thames), the awkward son of the village chief, encounters an injured Night Fury and learns that dragons might not be the terrifying monsters his people believe them to be. As he nurses the dragon Toothless back to health, an unlikely friendship forms. Together, they confront a looming danger threatening both humans and dragons, and Hiccup sets out to prove that both can coexist peacefully after all. Streaming now with purchase on Amazon or Apple Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Netflix has another riveting new thriller on its hands, and it's shaping up to be the streamer's next hit. After office worker Woo-sung (Kang Ha-neul) takes on a hefty debt to buy his first apartment in a crowded South Korean city, the thrill of homeownership quickly gives way to anxiety when relentless, unexplained noises keep the entire building from getting a wink of sleep. In his search for answers (and a bit of peace), he joins forces with his upstairs neighbor, Jin-ho (Seo Hyun-woo), while Eun-hwa (Yeom Hye-ran), the building's no-nonsense apartment rep, struggles to maintain order among the increasingly agitated residents. And the suffocating summer heat isn't helping anyone keep their cool. As the strange noises get worse, dread creeps in, inch by inch, until you start questioning every sound and thinking twice about living so close to strangers. Watch it now on Netflix "M3GAN 2.0" failed to tap into the same viral success that the first movie enjoyed back in 2022, but as someone who had a blast watching it in theaters, I encourage you to ignore the haters and check it out for yourself. It's just the thing if you're in the mood for a popcorn movie with "Terminator" vibes. The first "M3GAN" introduced us to the eerily lifelike android (played by Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis), a creation of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams) as a high-tech companion for her orphaned niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). But when M3GAN became self-aware and dangerously overprotective, Gemma and Cady were forced to shut her down (or so they thought). The sequel picks up two years later after a new android, AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), leaves a trail of bodies in her wake. To stop her, Gemma and Caddy have no choice but to team up with a resurrected M3GAN to keep her rogue successor from unleashing untold AI horrors upon the world. Buy or rent now on Amazon or Apple Based on Robert Littell's novel, "The Amateur" opens like a classic espionage thriller: CIA codebreaker Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is living an idyllic life with his wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), until everything shatters when she's killed in a terrorist attack while visiting London. To get revenge, Charlie taps into his intelligence training to track down the culprits, only to be blocked by the very agency he works for. When the CIA refuses to act, he takes matters into his own hands, blackmailing his way into a crash course in field operations to secure the green light to hunt down the killers himself. With zero field experience, he's way over his head and no match in a shootout, but his intellect and ingenuity may just give him the upper hand to finish the job the CIA won't. Watch it now on Hulu "I Love You Forever" has a pitch that definitely has me intrigued. It's a self-proclaimed "subversive" twist on the classic romcom formula of girl meets boy. At its center is Mackenzie (Sofia Black-D'Elia), a 25-year-old law student whose dating life is a blur of nameless hookups and zero attachment. That changes when she meets Finn (Ray Nicholson), a charming journalist who seems to offer something more substantial. But as the initial spark fades and cracks begin to show, Mackenzie is forced to reckon with Finn's darker side as well. Red flags pile up as their relationship shifts from love bombing to controlling behavior, eventually spiraling into emotional abuse. As she scrambles to trust herself and figure out how her dream relationship became such a nightmare, she questions her own ideas about love and the stories we tell ourselves about happily ever after. Watch it now on HBO Max
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
How To Train Your Dragon Gets New Digital Release Date
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors Dean DeBlois reimagined his fantastical tale, How to Train Your Dragon, in live-action, with the film hitting theaters last month, making $565 million at the worldwide box office, and impressing critics and audiences alike. Now, you can watch the film from home as it debuts on Video on Demand services, and also eyes a physical release in August. (from left) Night Fury dragon, Toothless, and Hiccup (Mason Thames) in Universal Pictures' live-action How to Train Your Dragon, written and directed by Dean DeBlois. (from left) Night Fury dragon, Toothless, and Hiccup (Mason Thames) in Universal Pictures' live-action How to Train Your Dragon, written and directed by Dean DeBlois. Universal Studios To help you find all the places you can watch it, we have formed a guide that includes details on where to watch How to Train Your Dragon, as well as the How to Train Your Dragon digital release date and How to Train Your Dragon streaming information. How To Train Your Dragon – How to Watch How to Train Your Dragon is available on Video on Demand platforms from July 15, 2025. You can rent and buy the title on places like Fandango at Home, YouTube, Prime Video, Google Play, and Apple TV+, and it is currently available to rent for $19.99 and buy for $29.99. Where Can I Watch How To Train Your Dragon? How to Train Your Dragon is now available to rent and buy on Video on Demand platforms. It lands on places like Prime Video, Apple TV+, Fandango at Home, and Google Play on July 15, 2025. How To Train Your Dragon Physical Release Date How to Train Your Dragon is available for pre-order on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD formats. It will release on August 12, 2025. Bonus features include: Deleted Scenes Gag Reel Love and Legacy: Making How to Train Your Dragon Building Berk Dreaming Up The Dragons (Bonus features may vary depending on format and retailer) How To Train Your Dragon Digital Release Date How to Train Your Dragon will be available to watch digitally from July 15, 2025. Is How To Train Your Dragon Available to Stream in the US? How to Train Your Dragon does not yet have an expected streaming release date. However, as most releases do, the film will likely end up on a streaming platform in the coming weeks. What Is How To Train Your Dragon About? The official synopsis for How to Train Your Dragon, as per Universal Pictures, reads:
Tom's Guide
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
6 top new movies to stream this week on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu and more (July 15-21)
It's set to be a quieter week for new movies across the best streaming services. However, that doesn't mean there's nothing worth adding to your watchlist. Netflix is offering a new Korean thriller, while HBO Max has a 'subverse' rom-com and Hulu premieres a sci-fi movie set in a dystopian future. Meanwhile, in the premium streaming space, the live-action 'How to Train Your Dragon' remake and sequel 'M3GAN 2.0' make the switch from theatres to home streaming. However, only one of them is worth the premium video-on-demand rental fee, in my opinion. Cue: It's not the one with a number in its title. It may not be the most packed week of new streaming releases, but there's still a handful of movies you'll want to consider. So, these are the biggest new movies arriving on streaming this week. Plus, check out our guide to the top new TV shows this week for even more viewing options. The latest live-action remake of an animated flick doesn't come from Disney. Instead, it's rival DreamWorks reimagining its 2010 family-favorite 'How to Train Your Dragon.' Like several similar projects, 'How to Train Your Dragon' loses some of its charm in the transition, but the heart of the story is largely the same. The extra 20 minutes bolted onto the runtime feel unnecessary and create a movie that drags in spots. Still, the relationship between cowardly Viking Hiccup and dragon Toothless is as heartwarming as it's ever been. Set in a whimsical fantasy universe, 'How to Train Your Dragon' opens with the Vikings of Berk at war with fearsome dragons, but when the timid son of the village's chieftain, Hiccup (Mason Thames), stumbles on a wounded Night Fury, he discovers that these winged monsters might not be so scary after all. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Nursing the dragon, whom he names Toothless, back to health, the two team up to fight a new threat that could endanger both dragons and Vikings. And in the process, Hiccup might just prove that dragons can be friends, not foes. Buy or rent on Amazon from July 15 Back in 2022, a creepy life-like doll called 'M3GAN' took social media by storm, so a sequel was inevitable. However, it appears that Blumhouse Productions may have overestimated M3GAN's appeal with the average viewer because this sequel flopped at the box office. Now "M3GAN 2.0" arrives on PVOD in the hopes of clawing back some interest, and perhaps maybe even going viral again (there's an extended dance scene that screams 'post this on TikTok, please'). But, unfortunately, this movie has all the hallmarks of a lackluster follow-up. The movie's biggest sin is switching genres, while the first 'M3GAN' was an intentionally silly horror, 'M3GAN 2.0' opts for a more action-oriented route, which feels like a real downgrade. Plus, the bizarrely convoluted plot and mismatched tone don't exactly help matters either. This movie sees 'M3GAN' resurrected to help defeat a military-grade robot known as AMELIA, who is unleashing cyber havoc. Rebuilt to be more lethal than ever, it all leads to a M3GAN vs. AMELIA showdown. This is very much one for the M3GAN superfans only, but considering the box office returns, it would appear that group is a lot smaller than initially believed. Buy or rent on Amazon from July 15 A spy movie that is perfect for fans of the 'Jason Bourne' franchise, 'The Amateur' is a slightly more grounded take on the world of espionage (though only slightly, it's still pretty unrealistic), and sees Rami Malek prove himself capable of leading an exciting and very engaging globe-trotting thriller. Based on the Robert Littell novel, Malek plays a CIA analyst whose world is shattered when his wife is killed in a terrorist attack while on a trip to London. Using his skills, he identifies those responsible for his wife's murder and blackmails his superiors into giving him a license to hunt them down and get cold-blooded revenge. A novice in the field, Charlie (Malek) is shown the ropes by a gruff mentor, Hendo (Laurence Fishburne). However, even with some training, he's still a fish out of water. Quickly realizing he can't outshoot his enemies, he focuses on outthinking them using his superior intellect. The flick also contains one of my favorite action sequences of the year (so far) involving a glass swimming pool suspended between two skyscrapers. It's just a shame the movie's trailers thoroughly spoil 'The Amateur's' best moment. So perhaps skip them before streaming. Watch on Hulu from July 17 Getting on the property ladder is hard enough for most people, but what if you finally managed to save up enough to buy a place of your own, only for it to turn into a nightmare? That's the compelling pitch for 'Wall to Wall,' Netflix's new South Korean thriller. Woo-sung (played by 'Squid Game' star Kang Ha-neul) moves into his new 84-square-meter apartment and is full of excitement to be a homeowner at long last. But that joy doesn't last very long. The home becomes a waking nightmare of strange noises and oddball neighbors, who are just unnerving enough to be creepy. As tensions within the apartment block bubble over, Woo-sung finds himself caught in the middle of an increasingly heated neighborhood stand-off as he's blamed for being the source of the mysterious disturbances. Netflix has been on a roll lately with loads of fantastic Korean content — not least of which is 'Squid Game' itself — and 'Wall to Wall' looks like it could be another winner from the country. Watch on Netflix from July 18 The romantic-comedy genre is often comforting, but also pretty formulaic, with many entries falling into predictable patterns and leaning on classic tropes. In steps, 'I Love You Forever,' which aims to be a 'subversive' take on a 'girl meets boy' story. The movie premiered in theatres earlier this year and was largely well-received by critics. It currently holds an 80% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising it for tonal shifts and the balance of comedic moments and dramatic beats. It looks well worth streaming now that it's arriving on HBO Max. At the heart of this (anti-)love story is Mackenzie (Sofia Black-D'Elia), a 25-year-old law student whose love life is a blur of hookups without any real commitment. But when she meets a handsome journalist named Finn (Ray Nicholson), she is ready to give proper love a shot. However, the honeymoon phase can't last forever, and as their relationship becomes increasingly tumultuous, Mackenzie must confront Finn's darker side and consider whether 'love true' can actually exist, or if it's just the stuff of fairy tales and sappy rom-coms. Watch on HBO Max from July 18 'The Assessment' earned my interest based on its leading stars alone. Elizabeth Olsen, Alicia Vikander and Himesh Patel is quite the trio, and factor in its strong reception with a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 'Certifed Fresh' rating from critics, it looks like Hulu might just have a hit on its hand with this sci-fi thriller set in a dystopian future. The feature film debut of director Fleur Fortuné, it focuses on Mia (Olsen) and Aaryan (Patel), a couple hoping to have a child, but in this alternative reality, having kids requires approval from the government. Resources are limited, so reproduction is state-controlled rather than a matter of personal choice. In steps Virginia (Vikander), a government assessor, who moves into Mia and Aaryan's home for seven days, during which she will judge their suitability to be parents. What they hope will be a simple process becomes increasingly nightmarish as they're forced to question the society around them, and even the very fundamentals of what it means to be human. It sounds like an intriguing sci-fi yarn, and I can't wait to stream it when it arrives on Hulu this weekend. Watch on Hulu from July 19
USA Today
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
See an exclusive (and cute) deleted scene from 'How to Train Your Dragon'
The live-action remake of 'How to Train Your Dragon' brought back many memorable sequences from the 2010 animated classic. One cute moment, however, didn't make the cut. The new 'Dragon' has brought fresh life to the franchise about Viking teenager Hiccup (Mason Thames) befriending a Night Fury named Toothless, even though the youngster's people consider these beasts an existential threat. The movie is available to buy or rent from video-on-demand platforms July 15, and has the exclusive debut of a deleted scene that old fans will recognize. In the first 'Dragon,' there's a sequence set after Hiccup and Toothless fly through the skies together for the first time and take a break on the beach afterward. They're approached by a group of Terrible Terrors, little dragons who want some of Toothless' fish, but he warns them off. Hiccup, however, gives some of his fish to one, and the small beastie snuggles up to the kid like a puppy. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox Writer and director Dean DeBlois re-created the scene for the new film, filming it partly at the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and building a portion of it on a stage at Belfast's Titanic Studios. But in the end, DeBlois decided it didn't need to be in the movie. 'It actually dragged down the pace a little bit and Hiccup was already learning that everything they know about dragons was wrong,' the filmmaker says. In addition to deleted scenes, bonus features for the new 'Dragon' include a behind-the-scenes look at how they made the thrilling 'Test Drive' sequence, the technology used to bring dragons to life, a gag reel, and DeBlois' commentary.
