Given how successful the franchise has been up to this point, it’s a bit surprising that it’s taken so damn long for How To Train Your Dragon 3 to get off the ground. Granted, animated films often do have long productions, but still, the last movie flew into theatres in 2014 and the threequel isn’t set to arrive until 2019. That’s a five year gap, which is a long time for any series – animated or not.
Still, interest in the franchise remains high, and fans are eager for any and all tidbits they can get their hands on as the long wait continues. Thankfully, it looks like the studio is about to lift the lid on what they have planned for us, as some new promo art has surfaced this week which gives us our very first look at the threequel.
Seen in the gallery below, you’ll be able to go up close and personal with characters both old and new, and though none of this is terribly revealing, we’ll take what we can get given how long it’s been since we last saw the franchise on the big screen.
Directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, the original How to Train Your Dragon went on to gross nearly $500 million worldwide and is a staggering 98% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, garnering the studio an Academy Award nomination in the Best Animated Feature category. As a result, in 2014 Dreamworks released a sequel entitled, How to Train Your Dragon 2, which was also directed by DeBlois and Sanders.
The computer-animated action fantasy follow-up surpassed its predecessor at the box office, earning $621 million, but took a bit of a tumble on its RT rating, currently sitting at 91%. It was also nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Animated Feature category.
Now, we arrive at the third film, titled How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. It’s set to fly into theaters on March 1st, 2019, after being delayed numerous times, and will supposedly close out the franchise. Fans needn’t worry, however, as director Dean DeBlois has already teased that there could be some spinoffs. As always, watch this space for more.
