How to Train Your Dragon Just Beat One of the Best Comic Book Movies Ever

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The live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon, which closely follows the original animated film, hit theaters in June. This movie turned out to be a big win for Universal Pictures, with a follow-up sequel already announced before its premiere. The initial animated movie, released in 2010, garnered nearly a perfect Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 99%. It ultimately grossed $494.87 million globally against a reported budget of $165 million. In contrast, the live-action version received a 77% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has already surpassed the total earnings of the animated movie and did so with a lower production cost, around $150 million.

The live-action adaptation of “How to Train Your Dragon” has been performing exceptionally well at cinemas, outperforming one of the top ’90s comic book movies, “Men in Black.” To date, the global box office earnings of “How to Train Your Dragon” have reached an impressive $580.91 million, with a substantial $250.7 million coming from domestic screenings alone. Remarkably, this surpasses the domestic earnings of “Men in Black,” which was $250.69 million, just shy of the current domestic total for “How to Train Your Dragon.” The achievement is even more noteworthy considering that “How to Train Your Dragon” has only been in theaters for a little over a month.

Over the past fortnight, the daily earnings for How to Train Your Dragon have been steadily decreasing, ranging from $1.2 million to $3.1 million per day. Despite this decline, it’s not far from surpassing some significant box office juggernauts on the all-time domestic box office list, such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Night at the Museum, and even Tim Burton’s Batman.

Sony’s Men in Black, though less renowned compared to other titles, originated as an adaptation of the comic book series The Men in Black by writers Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers. Originally published by Aircel Comics, the publishing rights were later acquired by Malibu Comics, which was eventually bought out by Marvel Comics. Sony Pictures produced the first Men in Black movie with a budget of $90 million, which became a hit, earning a massive $589.39 million worldwide. This success led to a franchise for Sony, with sequels released in 2002 and 2012. In an attempt to reboot the franchise, Sony released Men in Black: International in 2019 featuring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, but the film didn’t resonate with audiences, earning only $253.89 million against a budget of $110 million.

In this modern adaptation, titled “How to Train Your Dragon,” director Dean DeBlois brings the story to life with Mason Thames playing Hiccup, Nico Parker as Astrid, Gerard Butler as Stoick, Nick Frost as Gobber, Gabriel Howell as Snotlout, Julian Dennison as Fishlegs, Bronwyn James as Ruffnut, Harry Trevaldwyn as Tuffnut, Murray McArthur as Hoark, and Peter Serafinowicz as Spitelout. The live action movie is inspired by the Dreamworks Animation animated film series, which is only slightly influenced by Cressida Cowell’s book series of the same name.

In this movie, the story revolves around a resourceful young Viking named Hiccup (Thames). He’s friends with Toothless, a Night Fury dragon, who live together on the Isle of Berk. As an old danger looms, threatening both Vikings and dragons, they form a bond that could save their lives. It turns out that these two are crucial for helping both species create a new future. You can catch this movie in theaters now, while the animated versions can be streamed on Hulu and Max.

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2025-07-21 05:11