Live-action How to Train Your Dragon glided straight to the top of the U.K.-Ireland chart with an estimated £11.4 million ($14.5 million) opening weekend, the best start for the decade-old franchise and the territory’s second-strongest debut of 2025 behind Lilo & Stitch. Universal booked the picture into 670 sites, saturating multiplexes and independents during a post-exams school break that traditionally boosts family turnout.
The local launch formed part of a $197.8 million worldwide bow powered by $83.7 million in North America and $114.1 million from 69 international markets, led by Mexico ($14 million), the U.K.-Ireland haul, and China ($11.2 million). In India the film drew ₹4.88 crore on day one, outpacing every previous entry in the animated series and confirming the brand’s cross-cultural reach.
Analysts argue the result arrives at a pivotal moment for British exhibitors: Comscore figures show first-quarter box-office revenue fell 14 percent year-on-year even as admissions slipped further, yet May takings rebounded 50 percent thanks to Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible 8. The dragons’ strong showing, they say, signals a solid summer corridor and should help narrow a pandemic-era deficit that still dogs the market.
Reviews have been mixed. The Guardian called the remake “faithful yet utterly soulless”, faulting its green-screen vistas even while praising a mid-air flight sequence and Gerard Butler’s return as Stoick. Audience reaction tells a different story: CinemaScore sampled patrons at U.S. screenings and handed the film a rare “A”, with PostTrak tracking 94 percent overall positivity.
Director Dean DeBlois, who steered the original animated trilogy, built a sprawling Viking village on Northern Ireland’s Causeway coast to ground the spectacle in physical detail, a decision the cast say helped them inhabit the world while animatronics handled Toothless on set. Production cost is understood to sit near $150 million before marketing, a figure Universal will regard as manageable if legs hold through the school summer holidays.
