Cementing its well-earned status as one of cinema’s greatest modern trilogies, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World sent the animated fantasy franchise out with a spectacular bang on the big screen.
In terms of the critical consensus, respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of 99, 92, and 90 percent demonstrated a consistency that few brands in the industry could match, while a cumulative box office haul in excess of $1.6 billion solidified its credentials as one of the finest IPs of the 21st Century, period.
While the property has expanded through episodic spin-offs, video games, and all the other associated tie-ins, nobody really expected How to Train Your Dragon to end up going full-blown Disney, until it did. As much as we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt for now, is there any real or justifiable reason for the sweeping tale of destiny and fire-breathing monsters to get a live-action remake other than trying to ride the Mouse House’s coattails?
On the surface, absolutely not, but it would be reasonable to expect the brains behind the unnecessary do-over are entirely aware of that fact, and will hopefully be pulling out all of the stops to ensure it doesn’t suffer from the same issues that plague almost all of Disney’s repurposed animated classics.
For what it’s worth, How to Train Your Dragon remains a draw in its two-dimensional form, with FlixPatrol naming The Hidden World as one of the most-watched titles on iTunes and Google Play in the early part of the week. Whether you want it to happen or not, it’s coming back in live-action, so let’s just hope it doesn’t suck.