I’m reserving all judgement for now. It’s too early to start making any guesses about how it’ll turn out. There’s been too many shitty live-action remakes (even if from a different studio) for me to get instantly excited at the concept … but the fact that a) the source material is solid, b) it _is_ a different studio, and c) some of the key talent from the original are involved tell me that there’s at least a _chance_ it’ll end up interesting. In the end, I’ll wait until trailers start dropping before forming any kind of opinion. That said, even if the remake ends up decent (and, even if it doesn’t, it still wouldn’t spoil the original trilogy; nothing can take those away from us), I fully agree that I can’t see the _need_ for it. If this were an old series from decades ago, then maybe there would be a point in recreating it for a modern audience. But for crying out loud, we ARE the original audience! The third movie’s barely out of theaters and we’re already remaking them? It’s very hard to imagine a reason for it other than - as you said - money. And that’s kinda depressing. (I mean, sure, the original movies were made for money, too, but at least they had an original story to tell. This is just a retread … unless they change the story dramatically, anyway.)
Fair enough, and I agree that nothing new will ruin the old because it won't change that. I've heard one theory that this is to get "backdoor fans" like a band would get, to continue to feed the franchise since the newer, younger audience missed the originals. But that's still very short after the originals.
I’m wondering how they would be able to make the dragon’s facial expressions and the emotions that could be clearly displayed on their faces (Toothless is a good example) without the help of it being animated. I feel confident in Dean though that he will come through with a good film.
It’s a good question. I’m not sure how expressive the animatronic dragons in the live show are. And Toothless especially has to feel real and expressive.
@@FilmScoreandMore Yes, I completely agree - I think part of what made the first movie so good was how expressive and intelligent they made Toothless look whilst still maintaining that ‘wild animal’ in him.
They would probably give it the Movie Sonic redesign effect. I mean Sonic’s movie design looks more cartoonish combined with a little realism. He also gives a little more expressions than his old 2019 design did.
My friend summed it up the best: They have nothing to improve upon and everything to ruin. Maybe they could have improved the writing of the third movie as the writer set the ending in stone without anything that would lead to it, considering the events of the previous 2 movies so everything felt forced and unearned. Not to mention all characters giving up on what they achieved, fighting even worse threats than night fury hunter wanna-be. After what Disney has been releasing in recent years, live-action or adaptation, a lot of people who are deeply invested in franchises are like "Please no, oh no no no" when they hear their beloved franchise gets a movie/tv series adaptation. Eragon anyone? This is getting adapted to tv series by Disney :/
That’s a good way of putting it. I really have no major problems with the third movie since a decline in quality is expected by me. Somehow it just gets harder to make these great as you go along. So of course it’s not perfect, but it could have been so much worse. I know a lot of people are apprehensive right now when there’s news of any kind of continuation or revival.
@@FilmScoreandMore When I watched the third movie in the cinema I liked it but already something felt off while I was watching the events unfold. The major red light was how... dumbed down Toothless himself was compared to the previous movies, he became a literal pet. From there I noticed more problems with narrative and so on. It's hard to stay consistent in quality through 3 movies and the troubled development of the third movie showed in the final product. IIRC it was delayed because of those problems initially. At some point, the villain from the second movie was supposed to be here before they change it. I can only imagine how much work was scrapped. So I'm curious about what they'll do in the live-action trilogy. If the 1st one earned tonnes of money (it will I bet), they'd try to do rest. Disney and Amazon contributed a lot to that by releasing tonnes of poorly written adaptations or content in general.
I know what you mean. I’ve heard about the Drago redemption arc plan, but since so much of HTTYD 2 was about teaching Hiccup you can’t negotiate with some people and some are just bad (and since he lost his father because of it) I think that would have made Drago’s redemption in the third movie even worse. I may discuss that in a video one day.
@@FilmScoreandMore That's interesting, I see your point about Drago and yeah, it may have been the reason why he didn't appear in the movie. Tho he'd have made an excellent villain that is driven by revenge.
I remember hearing Dean DeBlois talk about it after the third movie’s release and he realized it would have been “slavish continuity,” throwing Drago in for the sake of continuity with the second movie even though he really didn’t belong in the new story.
We don't really know much about it, but we gotta have faith in Dean. He's said before he's not a fan of live-action remakes and you can tell he cares about the franchise and filmmaking in general. Fingers crossed he pulls it off.
Fingers crossed, yes. I almost included a Pink Panther 2 clip in this that I used in my video about the rumors of this movie: “Let me bring you up to speed. We know nothing. You are now up to speed.”
@@FilmScoreandMore well I believe I read they have the same person for music, John Powell, so that’s also a good sign. It won’t be taken as a masterpiece because it’s up against the original masterpiece
Finally the vid is out! I’m interested but I don’t have high expectations honestly. The HTTYD universe has always existed in animation and they’ve done one heck of an amazing job making us fall in love with it that way. Any other way wouldn’t work in my opinion. The story is another thing that concerns me.. I love your insight here!
Thanks, I'm glad you were looking forward to it! I definitely feel HTTYD works best in an animated universe. Their newer ideas like bringing it to the present with Nine Realms and now bringing it to live action seem to take away some of the elements that really make it work. And like you said, the story is a big concern. Are they just doing that again?
@@FilmScoreandMore Exactly. I really want to have high hopes for it but it has so many ways it could go wrong it’s pretty difficult. On the positive side I’m excited for Powell to return mainly because if the live action is a flop at least we will get more of his music. That makes me wonder if he’ll introduce new themes or simply rearrange the previous ones, or maybe we’ll get a mix of both?
It’s still so open-ended, we don’t know what he’ll do with the music. Will there be more folk songs like For The Dancing And The Dreaming? Will it all get repetitive? We just have to wait and see.
Bringing Powell back is massive for me. HTTYD is my favorite musical score of all time, and it would not be the same without the music. I am thrilled to know he’s back and I can’t wait to see what he does Other than that, I’m extremely skeptical about this adaptation and I don’t think it’s gonna work very well
Even if it turns out to be a good movie, it will never replace the original trilogy. I believe it's a good thing that both Dean de Blois and John Powell are returning and as for the direction the movie will go I hope it's a "darker" more mature take and not a shot for shot remake like the Lion King. Finally regarding the designs, I believe the should take a more grounded and realistic approach like in House of the Dragon (HBO) due to the original dragons having wacky designs.
I agree with you. The last live actions remakes where dark, colourless, caracters and story empty or not logical and poor CGI. And again they do raceswaping.
I don’t see what any of these have going for them. They also like to make them longer by means of cutting out some of the good and adding more that’s just not necessary.
I've been a massive fan of the franchise since summer 2012 and I'm personally excited for this project. HTTYD was a big part of my childhood, I turn 20 in April, HTTYD was essentially my Star Wars. Last year I revisited the franchise and I've been rewatching the movies, shows and shorts on repeat and it just never gets old to me. Whenever I watch the first film I'm almost brought to tears in nearly every scene because I just get battered with nostalgia. I never got to experience the first film in theaters so at least to me seeing the live action remake is a thrilling thought. I think this is a great opportunity to give the film a darker tone and to add some deleted scenes back in. On the other hand, if they screw up the casting my excitement will quickly turn to hatred, but with Dean at the helm I have some faith that it could turn out well. I'd prefer more animated content following the Berkians, there is still so many stories that could be told, but I'll eagerly take this over the nine realms any day.
6:59 Interestingly (I guess) because of the writer's and actors strike, the movie has been delayed. So, it may to be a little longer than just two years.
Due to really short premiere date, slightly more than two years, I think preproduction was basically completed, maybe even VFX teams are already heavily into making CG tests and designs, as this time dragons wouldn't be done by Dreamworks.
Supposedly they’re in the casting process now, which is still early and well before production. There’s just so little information that “we’ll have to wait and see” is about the only way we can go right now. What are your overall thoughts?
@@FilmScoreandMore I'm fine with it as long as it wasn't straight remake of first HTTYD and it doesn't contradict/mess with how Trilogy story concluded.
@@FilmScoreandMore Dean writes completly original story in universe, which happens to include new Toothless being kid or grandkid of original Toothless. It defininetely needs our Toothless boy in person. Or Hiccup was forced by some really bad events in "Surface World" to go in desperation into "Hidden World". Then maybe it could be story of much older Hiccup, being in age of Stoic.
It's true that what Powell will do raises questions. Personally, I don't think he can do in the same style as the animation. It is obvious that he will reuse his themes but in a more intimate style I think, a bit like the call of the wild. Thank you for all these infos !
Thanks for your comment! Yes, just as the movie feels like it has nowhere right to go I have no idea what Powell is supposed to do or how the style will change.
I have to admit, you have touched upon many key concerns with the live action movie. I do agree that 2 years seems like a very small amount of time, especially considering that HTTYD is one of the most iconic animated movies of all time, them trying to rendition it into a live action movie with altered plot will lead to alot of uproar and hate from the fanbase. On one side im intrigued and slightly optimistic that the movie will deliver, since scorn from a fanbase towards a new rendition is very common. On the other side im afraid as of to what the movie might butcher. Im surprised that you are disappointed with the fact that Powell will be scoring the film. Since i believe powell is amazing when it comes to scoring, which is another interesting point, since all the people that are working on this live action movie are reputed and famed. I cant help but feel optimistic
There’s no way any changes won’t be divisive. People are attached to the original, they don’t want big changes. It’s not that I’m disappointed Powell is involved, I’m just not excited yet. The Call of the Wild is one of my favorite scores now and I want to see what else he can do that’s new.
I'm a cynic... And very little that recently hit the big screen has done anything to improve my condition. So, when DreamWorks officially announced that they will be remaking HTTYD as live action, I already had my mind made that this will desecrate my absolute favorite franchise. It rests upon them to win me over, and, just because Dean is at the head, doesn't automatically give them a pass. I still think this doesn't need to happen. The original already has such realistic animation that, apart from human character designs, everything already feels like its live acrion. I can't shake the feeling yhat it's just a call from universal because HTTYD made them a lot of money and they want some more. Even worse, if they use live action to undermine the fact thst the original is animated. Well, guess what, the fans wouldnt have it any other way. Also, their work on the a show that shall not be named gives me zero confidence that desecrating a franchise with a soulless cash grab is beyond them. I wish that someone at universal or DreamWorks would just read the room. Prove me wrong, Dean, I dare you.
I understand your cynicism and completely agree with a lot of that. Your points about the animation are exactly what I think too. No matter how many times I look at this I can’t help but feel they’re trapped in making this.
@@FilmScoreandMore the only thing I can see them doing is casting the actors, all on green screen, and just replace the current ones with the live action ones. And that's awfully lazy and disingenuous. And if they change the designs of the dragons, even slightly, I'll never forgive them.
I have a feeling you what like it quite on that level. The original will always be the original. You might enjoy it if it's good (and hopefully so), but it's probably going to be tough to replace the first.
I don't think I will like the movie. I never think animation to live action is done well because I don't think it's ever been done for the right reason. However, I am glad that HTTYD is being focused on again so much. I recently was able to see a live orchestra perform the first movie, as well as the HTTYD Universal land opening an hour from me soon! It's going to give Disney Orlando some competition at least.
You’ve got a point about the remakes. And you’re lucky you got to go to a showing, I still haven’t been! Where did you see it? Also, nice profile picture. Are you a Lego fan?
@FilmScoreandMore This is going to get political, and I'm probably going to get called racist, but more of a reflection on the casting of many disney films since roughly 2019. I think OP meant he's not looking forward to a cast that contains race swapped characters in a film showcasing a culture that couldn't possibly contain anyone of certain skin colors due to geographic location. I have nothing against black characters in media but they need a better way to represent equality in films then just changing original characters to fit the bill, it ruins art imo when you could write an original character in an original film and have it be better than the race swapped material you created without putting any thought into the character. They're basically, swapping a character for the sake of equality with no regard for how that character was clearly described in the source material, when you could write an original character that does the same thing a lot better. That being said this is not an attack on the actors portraying these roles because some of them do pretty good, Halle Bailey in the new little mermaid for example, turned out to be a decent fit. I also think a lot of people can agree Disney is forcing equality into their recent creations in a disingenuous way, rather than putting actual effort into spreading the message because it's easier to swap a character than make a new one, which does nothing to spread a positive message. Finally, with all this in mind, the likelihood they race swap characters in the HTTYD live action movie is pretty high, as I mentioned earlier, the general consenus by anthropologists is that there were probably no black vikings, and if there were it was incredibly rare because of geography. This can be countered by "well it's fiction so they can do whatever they want" but I for one feel that even in fiction some historical guidelines should still be followed.
Have you seen my latest video on the remake? The full cast has now been announced and they've been in production for a few weeks. But the video is less about race and more about accents, because I still have no idea which way they're going or how it's going to make any sense. ua-cam.com/video/b_56arSVlU0/v-deo.html
@FilmScoreandMore I didn't know the full cast. My opinion is formed on the basis of casting in other movies as of late, looking at that it was likely they race swapped a character, the fact that they haven't is reassuring when it comes to quality.
@mutilatedpopsicles I looked at the cast in the video I linked. I haven’t seen most of them in anything previously so I can’t judge their acting, but Nico Parker and Julian Dennison (playing Astrid and Fishlegs respectively) are both cases of race swapping here.
@@FilmScoreandMore Mean I've never experienced a good remake whether it be a movie or a game. It's always watered down, and just not nearly as good in my opinion.
Some are good. Have you seen The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty? It’s a remake that I’d say is better than the original. It’s not just a retread, it’s a new take on the core idea and it does it really well.
Movie How to Train Your Dragon Fans: I was broken to tears when Hiccup said Goodbye to Toothless! Book How to Train Your Dragon Fans: I was broken to tears when I watched book Toothless snuggle up to Hiccup. (I'm at the very least hoping to see thin skinny Fishlegs but who even knows at this point.)
I think it’s more NBCU than him. He’s been openly against continuing the franchise past a third movie for about a decade now. Some think he was more or less forced into this, but we don’t know yet.
@@FilmScoreandMore I just don't know what to think. I hope for your POV he's innocent but since he already said on a Hidden World DVD extra "It's more than a silly little dragon that talks." that already showed he's spiteful towards the source material. He might not've wanted the live-action movie but he still tried to insert his story over Cressida's. Sigh, I have a really, hard if not impossible time siding with fans of the movies/og shows.
@@YamiSpyroX I wouldn't necessarily say that's spiteful. The movies aimed not to make the dragons anthropomorphic and to have a different tone. And don't worry about who likes what. You like the books, that's fine. If you can enjoy the movies too, that's great. But otherwise don't worry about it.
Overall excellent video. Great work! One thing I'll mention is that they could do many of this adaptation's scenes without a green screen, and that would serve to make it more realistic. While it is almost always cheaper and easier to use a green screen, Top Gun Maverick decided to use it as little as possible simply for fans; they lost money because of it and accepted the expense regardless. If this adaptation did that too, then there is a flicker of hope, a silver lining as you put it. The chances of that happening, though... One big problem with adaptations is that we, when we watch it, naturally contrast it from the original rather than accepting it as its own work of art. This will probably happen in theaters with this film, and will likely have multiple negative effects, such as ruining the theater experience with a nitpicking mindset. The adaptation will then be seen as tarnished for such a viewer. I have a hunch that, as a result, the original will feel a bit tarnished as well. You summed this up well when describing that you need... well, a need, to watch this movie. I never knew that the directors for D1 came in very late to the project, even later than Powell. You have mentioned before how Powell worked well under pressure. Perhaps the same thing happened to Sanders and DeBlois on the original. And, as you say, that urgency is no longer relevant. Again, I see no reason(outside of music) to watch this film, and I don't think many do. I will say that Powell simply composes gold any time he grabs his conducting baton. At the very least, I can watch this adaptation knowing that the music will be good. I don't feel like it needs to live up to the original, and, with my opinions regarding The Hidden World soundtrack, I don't expect it to. Therefore, the music can only be added or summed to what we already have, rather than averaged like the rest of the adaptation seems like it will do. Averaged in the sense that this adaptation lowers the average quality of everything Dragons(except Nine Realms). You nailed the part about how this is bringing back what we already let go, and were satisfied with. Couldn't have said it better. A side note: as the music nerd I am, I keep waiting for your See You Tomorrow and This is Berk string mockups to hit the chorus, and am always shocked when they loop backward. 😂 Oh, but it hit it at the end and I got chills!!
Thanks for all your thoughts! I really don’t know how much green screen DeBlois would use. Sanders used it a ton in The Call of the Wild (his own live action debut), but DeBlois still has nothing for us to go off of. I completely agree about adaptations. It’s impossible to separate from the original completely and judge it as its own thing. I’m sure Powell and DeBlois could be great again, at this point there’s just nothing to go off of and I feel like I don’t have anything to be excited for yet. As for the background music, I’m not crazy about it but it’s something that works. And it’s a frustrating part of the process because the rest of the video is done, so I usually just find a few clips that work and loop them in some order. I can worry way too much about it and I shouldn’t because most people won’t even notice it. But that ending worked out well, so I was happy about that.
Crazy. I guess I’m confused because I don’t really see a reason for a live action HTTYD. But I thought the same thing about a Last of Us show and that turned out fantastic. I suppose it’s a good sign that so many of the creative minds behind the animated movies are also behind this. And if John Powell is excited about it then I’ll at least be excited for the music.
My guess, it’s a lazy business move for IP relevancy. Since the four realms was a disaster and with talks of a “Berk” style theme park at universal, I’m guessing this is a “playing it safe” business move to keep the Dragon IP mainstream to build on to it. Takes a lot less work to adapt a story that’s already been done then to produce a new one that could flop. It always comes back to the money.
I wholly expect it to be garbage, much like every other live-action remake. I have no intent to see it in theaters the first week. If it gets decent reviews then maybe the second week, but after so long with hollywood and big studios pushing out garbage games and garbage movies I have little interest in anything they pander these days
I don’t want a live action. Plain and simple. Stories now a days don’t have endings, good ones at that, and it ended. So for me. The trilogy and the shows taking place during hiccups time is it.
I honestly don't know how I feel about this... The person who is going to play Astrid doesn't even look like the original Astrid... and I feel like they might want to make a prequel instead of a remake because that would probably get more views and bring people back because they probably lost a lot of people due to the Nine Realms. Than show sucks.
They’ve said since this that it’s a remake with changes. They’re doing the same thing again, but somehow different. That’s about all we know besides the full cast.
And I have a good idea for another animated movie. For one I think it would be cool to have a plot twist at the end where there is a part 2 of it. An army from a far land that attacks the home of dragons. And the dragons need to leave the hidden world. And hiccup and toothless should stay together and Astrid should get the light fury. The army from a far land should be huge bigger than draggo and viggo’s army together if u saw race to the edge. They should have stronger ships new weapons and a multi part movie. I want universal to see this and take my idea in consideration, If u want the movies to stay good it needs to use the same animation, NO LIVE ACTION Thank you if you read this and please reply your opinions on this comment.!
Personally, i would prefer if they just remade the first movie in a much higher quality. Leave everything else alone, just bring the animation to 2023 standards
So you’d prefer a remaster, still animated? That could be interesting, but I also would rather just keep the original. I’d prefer more frequent re-releases of movies instead of remakes. I never got to see the first movie in theaters.
@@FilmScoreandMore Correct, i love the first movie but compared to the third, it looks so basic. I would love to see it in a much higher quality, as it would bring the immersion factor much higher, imo. Re releases would we awesome too, i never say the first in theater either. It would be great if they remastered it for imax or something
I’d just take the original as is. I know it’s aged a bit and was made with old programs, but I do like a lot of the animation, especially the lighting.
Honestly? I wouldn't even call it a great franchise as a whole. I think "awesome franchise that got worse and worse with each movie installment" is more fitting. After the disaster that was THW I'm not ever watching anything httyd again if DeBlois is in charge. Let's just say that the chance I'll be watching this is dwindling in the single digits. Making this LA movie is hypocritical af, Dean should've thought of that before killing the only appeal that his franchise has ever had. It's obvious that he didn't have enough success elsewhere so now he comes crawling back to the only franchise where he ever had success.
I don't want to argue or exaggerate, and your welcome to your own opinion. But I was never disappointed by HTTYD 3 and I think it's a mistake to have high expectations for a third movie made almost a decade after the original. I know things will be different and that a sequel is almost never going to live up to the original. I had enough issues with HTTYD 2 (which is still a great movie) to know not to expect better for a third (I may make a video on the issues of HTTYD 2 eventually). But I strongly feel HTTYD 3 was as good as it could be and a lot better than most trilogy endings. We don't know DeBlois' reasoning for changing his mind yet, I'm sure it would help his image if he were more active online to at least offer some explanation. I also believe since he worked on the story for Mulan, co-directed Lilo and Stitch, and put so much into HTTYD he has proven his talent and worth and could find other work. I cut a line out of this video where I mentioned his early interest in comic books and I joked that if only someone would greenlight a comic book movie. I'm sure he could do something and while I'm not interested in this live action movie I think it's only logical that he could have some kind of plan. Thanks for your comment.
@@FilmScoreandMore I agree that httyd 2 was enjoyable but had some issues but I disagree that thw got as good as it could've gotten. I've seen countless rewrites of it that were so much better. My main issues are the characters, especially Toothless, the incoherent, illogical plot and the message that you should just give up fighting for a better world because it's hard and instead you should hide away from your problems/shove them under the rug and just get married and produce babies. I think that's a really toxic message and just can't get behind that. As for Dean being a good writer... well, he has helped with good movies before but in httyd he always had someone by his side and as soon as he was fully in charge he messed it up, at least in my opinion, I'm not judging anyone who likes THW for whatever reason
I know what you mean. I still maintain that it works and is better than a lot of other trilogy endings. Not to mention the fact that it was a trilogy at all, unlike many movies. Did DeBlois have a lot of help on the writing of HTTYD 2? I thought that was mostly him. It's very solid and has some great ideas that just fall a little short of their potential because he was forced to rewrite it late in the game. Again, I might make a video on that one day.
Hey, Disney is remaking their renaissance films in live action and it's making a shitload of money... but they aren't good... who cares, MONEY! I only have high hopes for the score with Powell and that's about it, but we shall see
We shall see indeed. And how many live action remakes are coming out between now and then anyway? I doubt that’s going to help much, unless this one feels incredibly fresh.
in my opinion this movie is a really bad idea, its going to be trash and ruin the franchise, especially with the poor choices they are making with the cast. I hope this movie never comes out.
I agree that the movie is a bad idea, but I stand against the idea that it will ruin anything but itself. The franchise already exists. You can watch it any time. Nothing will ruin that.
It is a bit confusing if it is ACTUALLY a reboot. These movies are fairly new, and as you said, how are they going to improve things or what new will they bring to the table? Or is it just a greedy cash grab sort of thing.. I mean the Disney live action movies are heavily criticised but they do make a lot of money still. We shall see :) Loved the video btw :)
Do it wrong and you'll end up with 2019's Lion King. Expressive voices but dead faces. Personally I discourage this live action take. If they really want to bring back HTTYD to the screen, maybe remaster an older movie like the first one and re-release it, just like Avatar and Titanic
@watchforever1724 I completely understand, movies are expensive. Especially if you don’t live near a theater. It’s a lot of time and money you have to put into it.
Okay, but my question is: will they bring back Jónsi to make new end-credits songs and some contributions to the score like he did with the original trilogy? This was actually (naturally) my first thought when I found out live-action HTTYD is confirmed. Anyone who knows me enough or has seen me around enough will know I was wondering this, lol.
I hadn’t thought of that. It’s a fair guess since DeBlois did it for each of the other three. Plus he and Powell work well together. Maybe they’ll collaborate more again this time.
@@FilmScoreandMore That's true. It'd be really great, I'm a really big fan of Jónsi. I know he's good friends with Dean DeBlois anyway, but I think another reason he was chosen was because since he's an Icelander he's a Viking descendant and of course the human characters in the movie are Vikings.
Yes, I’m sure that’s one of the reasons. Have you seen my video about how Forbidden Friendship was inspired by some Sigur Rós music? I’m mentioning it again in my current video too. ua-cam.com/video/-ZZw2a0Q6Qs/v-deo.html
DeBlois mentioned in an interview being happy to leave the franchise and hoping to direct live action movies. I stand by my theory that none of his original ideas were accepted by the studio, so now he's somehow stuck again with the franchise... which makes me feel kinda sorry for him
Do you have this interview? I’ve never heard it phrased exactly that way. I did look at his other live action commitments, but it looks like none of them ever got off the ground.
@@FilmScoreandMore Sorry for the late response, I've only now been looking at some old interviews again to see if I can find it. The exact clip I can't find for some reason and his wording when answering similar questions doesn't make him seem as "fatigued" with the franchise. Here's some clips I've found: ua-cam.com/video/4u5-ParLogo/v-deo.html - He mentions only dabbling with ideas for animation / live action / hybrid ua-cam.com/video/o4_iuXiIeHk/v-deo.html - He mentions specifically working on Micronauts and Treasure -Planet- Island ua-cam.com/video/iqZkJ24bDqo/v-deo.html - Maybe his most poignant response; on saying goodbye to the franchise, he does mention here that it's "necessary. You need to freshen it up to stay creatively alive. [...] I'm ready for something knew, and I think most people are as well." ua-cam.com/video/QONbiUMQB2c/v-deo.html - Brief confirmation that he is working on a live action project for Dreamworks (the interview is from 2020, so he might've already been involved with HTTYD then)
In the second interview he also mentions being a little disappointed that he wasn't able to better flesh out the supporting characters (most notably Astrid), mostly due to the constraints on runtime length and scope. So maybe he's looking forward to incorporate more complex and darker themes into the live action adaptation.
Thanks for digging up the links. That's all useful to know. It's a shame if he's more or less just stuck with this movie with only some hope of fleshing things out a bit more, and I'd hoped he could get to something new instead. And it's interesting that you found confirmation from 2020 that he was working on a live-action project for Dreamworks even then.
This will be just like the 2019 Lion King remake. People will only like it because they remember how much they liked the original. All the changes made from the original Lion King in the 2019 remake made the script, story and characters significantly worse, and the things people tended to like about it were things the original film already had. I imagine that will also be the case with HTTYD.
That might be a fair guess. And like that one, the original composer is returning to... remix his original cues? I still have no idea what Powell will do with this one.
Very curious as to how they'll actually produce this. I'm hoping it's going to be a bit more grittier than the original, a bit more intense, however I am very doubtful they'd do that considering the franchise, and DreamWorks animation as a whole has been relatively kid friendly. Hopefully they have something to contribute than it just being a live action version of the first film, because if it is the latter I'll be pretty disappointed, though not surprised.
A lot of people are waiting to see what they do there. I think they probably will go a little darker and grittier. Whether or not that works out remains to be seen.
I hope so. Another concern of mine is specifically how they are going to handle Toothless. The other dragons I think could be translated into a realistic style a bit more easier but considering how toothless is far, far more expressive I don't know how they'd accomplish it.
Tbh the main reason I don’t like live action anymore is because they favor CGI over traditional effects. Traditional effects can do a lot for you, but Marvel has taken that and thrown it out the window Will I watch the movie? Probably. HTTYD was my childhood Will I like it is a whole nother question that I can’t answer at this point
I know what you mean. And the shame about Marvel is they started with such a convincing mix of live action practical effects and CGI, back with Iron Man in 2008. They used as many practical effects as they could. But it’s largely gone out the window now.
Blah blah blah moan moan moan meow meow can't be done because I do not want to grow up and want to live in a fantasy animated world. Your video is like a flat earth video: it will not be good because that's what I want to believe.
I don’t think we’re on the same page. I’m not complaining, I’m just addressing some issues the movie is facing. I have no problem with you looking forward to the movie or enjoying it when it comes out.
@FilmScoreandMore That's how it came out... at least to me. Also, where you see problems, others see challenges and solutions. Your tone is too negative, methinks.
So what solutions do you see? This is merely a video about those issues it’s facing, we don’t have any of the answers yet. You’re welcome to speculate here.
I have a few pet 'conspiracies' about the remake, the first being Universal was none too happy that Dean effectively burned the franchise down with an 'all the magic goes away forever, fuck you' ending while their httyd park was probably still in the planning stages. They want a franchise they can continuously go back to and merchandise like JP, but Dean killed the property before they could do anything else with it. The second? Its a little conspicuous that this announcement came shortly after the smash success of Avatar 2, and the critical acclaim of House of the Dragon. I dare say they wanted to see how those properties landed to gauge where the audience was for their own film. Not necessarily as a one-to-one comparison of course, but a general test that films can still make it big, and that live action with dragons can get viewers. The third: Nine Realms was already in some stage of production, but its budget was slashed and the whole thing became more of a fan barometer of where the franchise should go. The resounding answer is: _not_ to the modern day with dragons being secret forever.
Here are my thoughts: I know a portion of the fans strongly disliked the third movie, but the fact is (as I covered in my Nine Realms video) it made more money than the previous two movies. It was also already decided over a decade ago that it would be a trilogy, so Dreamworks and Universal should have known what they were getting; an profitable franchise with an ending. It just happens that Universal became the distributor late in the game. The theme park is very late and (realistically) short-sighted. This was never going to be an ongoing franchise with decades worth of material to serve the theme park. Theme parks are massive investments and built to last. DisneyLand is almost 70 years old. I've heard the House Of The Dragon argument, but I don't understand it. It has dragons and parts were inspired by HTTYD, but it's not like dragons were an unproven concept before or had not been done well on film. It feels just tangentially related. I don't know as much about Nine Realms or how long it was in development. It just seemed to spring up one day, but has been moving surprisingly fast. I do know opinions are divided at best, like with the announcement of this live action movie.
@@FilmScoreandMore I don't think they intend to _copy_ HotD by any means, more like they wanted to peek across the aisle and see what grade they got on the metaphorical test. That show is the first 'big' piece of live-action dragon media since... maybe Monster Hunter? (if you want to be generous with what counts as a 'dragon movie') which was a mixed bag at best. You have to go back to the early 2000s to find more full theatrical domestic releases that are entirely about dragons, like Eragon and Reign of Fire. There were some direct-to-video films like the Dragonheart prequels, but... off the top of my head I can't think of a single non-animated film about dragons that pulled the same numbers as the HTTYD franchise. Its understandable that Universal would look at the first close comparison to come by before giving a green light.
What are your thoughts on the confirmation of the live action movie? Are your excited? Do you think it could do well?
I’m reserving all judgement for now. It’s too early to start making any guesses about how it’ll turn out. There’s been too many shitty live-action remakes (even if from a different studio) for me to get instantly excited at the concept … but the fact that a) the source material is solid, b) it _is_ a different studio, and c) some of the key talent from the original are involved tell me that there’s at least a _chance_ it’ll end up interesting. In the end, I’ll wait until trailers start dropping before forming any kind of opinion.
That said, even if the remake ends up decent (and, even if it doesn’t, it still wouldn’t spoil the original trilogy; nothing can take those away from us), I fully agree that I can’t see the _need_ for it. If this were an old series from decades ago, then maybe there would be a point in recreating it for a modern audience. But for crying out loud, we ARE the original audience! The third movie’s barely out of theaters and we’re already remaking them? It’s very hard to imagine a reason for it other than - as you said - money. And that’s kinda depressing. (I mean, sure, the original movies were made for money, too, but at least they had an original story to tell. This is just a retread … unless they change the story dramatically, anyway.)
Not excited
Understandable. Me neither (so far).
Fair enough, and I agree that nothing new will ruin the old because it won't change that. I've heard one theory that this is to get "backdoor fans" like a band would get, to continue to feed the franchise since the newer, younger audience missed the originals. But that's still very short after the originals.
@@FilmScoreandMore It has been 13 years since the 1st movie came out.
I’m wondering how they would be able to make the dragon’s facial expressions and the emotions that could be clearly displayed on their faces (Toothless is a good example) without the help of it being animated. I feel confident in Dean though that he will come through with a good film.
It’s a good question. I’m not sure how expressive the animatronic dragons in the live show are. And Toothless especially has to feel real and expressive.
@@FilmScoreandMore Yes, I completely agree - I think part of what made the first movie so good was how expressive and intelligent they made Toothless look whilst still maintaining that ‘wild animal’ in him.
I know that was a really difficult balance for them to find. I don’t know how this is going to go, but I doubt it would be easy.
They would probably give it the Movie Sonic redesign effect. I mean Sonic’s movie design looks more cartoonish combined with a little realism. He also gives a little more expressions than his old 2019 design did.
I’m wondering how realistic that design would look.
My friend summed it up the best: They have nothing to improve upon and everything to ruin. Maybe they could have improved the writing of the third movie as the writer set the ending in stone without anything that would lead to it, considering the events of the previous 2 movies so everything felt forced and unearned. Not to mention all characters giving up on what they achieved, fighting even worse threats than night fury hunter wanna-be.
After what Disney has been releasing in recent years, live-action or adaptation, a lot of people who are deeply invested in franchises are like "Please no, oh no no no" when they hear their beloved franchise gets a movie/tv series adaptation. Eragon anyone? This is getting adapted to tv series by Disney :/
That’s a good way of putting it. I really have no major problems with the third movie since a decline in quality is expected by me. Somehow it just gets harder to make these great as you go along. So of course it’s not perfect, but it could have been so much worse.
I know a lot of people are apprehensive right now when there’s news of any kind of continuation or revival.
@@FilmScoreandMore When I watched the third movie in the cinema I liked it but already something felt off while I was watching the events unfold. The major red light was how... dumbed down Toothless himself was compared to the previous movies, he became a literal pet. From there I noticed more problems with narrative and so on.
It's hard to stay consistent in quality through 3 movies and the troubled development of the third movie showed in the final product. IIRC it was delayed because of those problems initially. At some point, the villain from the second movie was supposed to be here before they change it. I can only imagine how much work was scrapped.
So I'm curious about what they'll do in the live-action trilogy. If the 1st one earned tonnes of money (it will I bet), they'd try to do rest.
Disney and Amazon contributed a lot to that by releasing tonnes of poorly written adaptations or content in general.
I know what you mean. I’ve heard about the Drago redemption arc plan, but since so much of HTTYD 2 was about teaching Hiccup you can’t negotiate with some people and some are just bad (and since he lost his father because of it) I think that would have made Drago’s redemption in the third movie even worse. I may discuss that in a video one day.
@@FilmScoreandMore That's interesting, I see your point about Drago and yeah, it may have been the reason why he didn't appear in the movie. Tho he'd have made an excellent villain that is driven by revenge.
I remember hearing Dean DeBlois talk about it after the third movie’s release and he realized it would have been “slavish continuity,” throwing Drago in for the sake of continuity with the second movie even though he really didn’t belong in the new story.
We don't really know much about it, but we gotta have faith in Dean. He's said before he's not a fan of live-action remakes and you can tell he cares about the franchise and filmmaking in general. Fingers crossed he pulls it off.
Fingers crossed, yes. I almost included a Pink Panther 2 clip in this that I used in my video about the rumors of this movie:
“Let me bring you up to speed. We know nothing. You are now up to speed.”
@@FilmScoreandMore I think if they find a good mix of live action and CGI/animation it will be good
If the writing and performances are also good.
@@FilmScoreandMore well I believe I read they have the same person for music, John Powell, so that’s also a good sign. It won’t be taken as a masterpiece because it’s up against the original masterpiece
Yes, I included that in this video. He has announced he’s returning for this.
Finally the vid is out! I’m interested but I don’t have high expectations honestly. The HTTYD universe has always existed in animation and they’ve done one heck of an amazing job making us fall in love with it that way. Any other way wouldn’t work in my opinion. The story is another thing that concerns me.. I love your insight here!
Thanks, I'm glad you were looking forward to it! I definitely feel HTTYD works best in an animated universe. Their newer ideas like bringing it to the present with Nine Realms and now bringing it to live action seem to take away some of the elements that really make it work. And like you said, the story is a big concern. Are they just doing that again?
@@FilmScoreandMore Exactly. I really want to have high hopes for it but it has so many ways it could go wrong it’s pretty difficult. On the positive side I’m excited for Powell to return mainly because if the live action is a flop at least we will get more of his music. That makes me wonder if he’ll introduce new themes or simply rearrange the previous ones, or maybe we’ll get a mix of both?
It’s still so open-ended, we don’t know what he’ll do with the music. Will there be more folk songs like For The Dancing And The Dreaming? Will it all get repetitive? We just have to wait and see.
The $1.6 million animated film franchise is about to disappear and the How to train your dragon franchise will end. 😢😭
You will always have what they already made. You can watch it any time.
1 million? That seems pretty low. I thought the animation looked like the film costed more than like a thousand a hundred million.
Bringing Powell back is massive for me. HTTYD is my favorite musical score of all time, and it would not be the same without the music. I am thrilled to know he’s back and I can’t wait to see what he does
Other than that, I’m extremely skeptical about this adaptation and I don’t think it’s gonna work very well
I’m going to have to wait and see if it excites or interests me. Time will tell.
Even if it turns out to be a good movie, it will never replace the original trilogy. I believe it's a good thing that both Dean de Blois and John Powell are returning and as for the direction the movie will go I hope it's a "darker" more mature take and not a shot for shot remake like the Lion King. Finally regarding the designs, I believe the should take a more grounded and realistic approach like in House of the Dragon (HBO) due to the original dragons having wacky designs.
It definitely won’t replace the originals. I’m just not sure how well a new direction will work. We’ll have to see what they do and how it goes.
I agree with you. The last live actions remakes where dark, colourless, caracters and story empty or not logical and poor CGI. And again they do raceswaping.
I don’t see what any of these have going for them. They also like to make them longer by means of cutting out some of the good and adding more that’s just not necessary.
I've been a massive fan of the franchise since summer 2012 and I'm personally excited for this project. HTTYD was a big part of my childhood, I turn 20 in April, HTTYD was essentially my Star Wars. Last year I revisited the franchise and I've been rewatching the movies, shows and shorts on repeat and it just never gets old to me. Whenever I watch the first film I'm almost brought to tears in nearly every scene because I just get battered with nostalgia. I never got to experience the first film in theaters so at least to me seeing the live action remake is a thrilling thought. I think this is a great opportunity to give the film a darker tone and to add some deleted scenes back in. On the other hand, if they screw up the casting my excitement will quickly turn to hatred, but with Dean at the helm I have some faith that it could turn out well. I'd prefer more animated content following the Berkians, there is still so many stories that could be told, but I'll eagerly take this over the nine realms any day.
Whatever happens, I’d advise going in with neutral expectations.
I don't want it to be a copy and paste of the original so what I think they should do is introduce Dagur in this one.
I wonder which way they would go with it.
And Heather
6:59 Interestingly (I guess) because of the writer's and actors strike, the movie has been delayed. So, it may to be a little longer than just two years.
That’s true. No telling when it’ll be now, or how it’ll affect some areas of the movie.
Due to really short premiere date, slightly more than two years, I think preproduction was basically completed, maybe even VFX teams are already heavily into making CG tests and designs, as this time dragons wouldn't be done by Dreamworks.
Supposedly they’re in the casting process now, which is still early and well before production. There’s just so little information that “we’ll have to wait and see” is about the only way we can go right now.
What are your overall thoughts?
@@FilmScoreandMore I'm fine with it as long as it wasn't straight remake of first HTTYD and it doesn't contradict/mess with how Trilogy story concluded.
I’m not sure how they’ll be able to do that at this point. Once again, time will tell.
@@FilmScoreandMore Dean writes completly original story in universe, which happens to include new Toothless being kid or grandkid of original Toothless. It defininetely needs our Toothless boy in person.
Or Hiccup was forced by some really bad events in "Surface World" to go in desperation into "Hidden World". Then maybe it could be story of much older Hiccup, being in age of Stoic.
It could happen.
I think they should just make a 4th movie of hiccups and Astrid’s kids and toothlesses kids, it’s just be better or something idk
A lot of people suggest that.
Yeah, they need to fix what they messed up with HTTYD3, and the only way they can effectively do that is continuing the story with the next generation
@mutilatedpopsicles I’ve got to be honest, I personally only see that as more broken instead of a fix. But I can respect your opinion.
It's true that what Powell will do raises questions. Personally, I don't think he can do in the same style as the animation. It is obvious that he will reuse his themes but in a more intimate style I think, a bit like the call of the wild. Thank you for all these infos !
Thanks for your comment! Yes, just as the movie feels like it has nowhere right to go I have no idea what Powell is supposed to do or how the style will change.
The problem is that they didn’t cast me /:(
How could they not?!
I'm so tired of marvel, remakes, and sequels.
The only movie I've actually had interest to see in years is Oppenheimer.
I’m not looking forward to many movies soon either.
The good news is you can skip the ones you don’t care for and watch any that you do.
Please don't ruin HTTYD. If you're going to live action it get Jay and the rest of the animation voice cast to do it.
Even with them I don’t see how it would translate well.
8:13 where is that concept art from?
It's from the HTTYD 2 art book. Dean DeBlois himself did that particular artwork.
I have to admit, you have touched upon many key concerns with the live action movie. I do agree that 2 years seems like a very small amount of time, especially considering that HTTYD is one of the most iconic animated movies of all time, them trying to rendition it into a live action movie with altered plot will lead to alot of uproar and hate from the fanbase. On one side im intrigued and slightly optimistic that the movie will deliver, since scorn from a fanbase towards a new rendition is very common. On the other side im afraid as of to what the movie might butcher.
Im surprised that you are disappointed with the fact that Powell will be scoring the film. Since i believe powell is amazing when it comes to scoring, which is another interesting point, since all the people that are working on this live action movie are reputed and famed. I cant help but feel optimistic
There’s no way any changes won’t be divisive. People are attached to the original, they don’t want big changes.
It’s not that I’m disappointed Powell is involved, I’m just not excited yet. The Call of the Wild is one of my favorite scores now and I want to see what else he can do that’s new.
I'm a cynic... And very little that recently hit the big screen has done anything to improve my condition. So, when DreamWorks officially announced that they will be remaking HTTYD as live action, I already had my mind made that this will desecrate my absolute favorite franchise. It rests upon them to win me over, and, just because Dean is at the head, doesn't automatically give them a pass.
I still think this doesn't need to happen. The original already has such realistic animation that, apart from human character designs, everything already feels like its live acrion. I can't shake the feeling yhat it's just a call from universal because HTTYD made them a lot of money and they want some more. Even worse, if they use live action to undermine the fact thst the original is animated. Well, guess what, the fans wouldnt have it any other way. Also, their work on the a show that shall not be named gives me zero confidence that desecrating a franchise with a soulless cash grab is beyond them. I wish that someone at universal or DreamWorks would just read the room.
Prove me wrong, Dean, I dare you.
I understand your cynicism and completely agree with a lot of that. Your points about the animation are exactly what I think too. No matter how many times I look at this I can’t help but feel they’re trapped in making this.
@@FilmScoreandMore the only thing I can see them doing is casting the actors, all on green screen, and just replace the current ones with the live action ones. And that's awfully lazy and disingenuous. And if they change the designs of the dragons, even slightly, I'll never forgive them.
@@SergeyPupkoMusic It will be interesting to see how they handle the effects and designs.
My biggest fear is if it turns out good, I'll feel bad for liking it more than the original. 😣
I have a feeling you what like it quite on that level. The original will always be the original. You might enjoy it if it's good (and hopefully so), but it's probably going to be tough to replace the first.
You don’t have to like it if you don’t want to. You can like both at the same time. It’s your choice.
Absolutely.
Imagine
the movie turns out to be good, httyd becomes a really well-known franchise and we get a lot of AAA games
That’s possible. But I think it’s already been making a name for itself and people are continuing to discover it.
If they use more of a james cameron avatar style for the live action could possibly work. That would be a cool idea
How do you mean? In terms of the animation?
I do not have high expectations for this movie
I’m not surprised. Especially if you’re answering from an artistic point of view.
I Completely agree with this video
Me too. Obviously.
I don't think I will like the movie. I never think animation to live action is done well because I don't think it's ever been done for the right reason.
However, I am glad that HTTYD is being focused on again so much. I recently was able to see a live orchestra perform the first movie, as well as the HTTYD Universal land opening an hour from me soon! It's going to give Disney Orlando some competition at least.
You’ve got a point about the remakes. And you’re lucky you got to go to a showing, I still haven’t been! Where did you see it?
Also, nice profile picture. Are you a Lego fan?
I definitely don't want a "diverse cast for modern audiences". This story is about Vikings, not Village People
Are you directly quoting someone or is this just an acknowledgment of the casting thus far?
@FilmScoreandMore This is going to get political, and I'm probably going to get called racist, but more of a reflection on the casting of many disney films since roughly 2019.
I think OP meant he's not looking forward to a cast that contains race swapped characters in a film showcasing a culture that couldn't possibly contain anyone of certain skin colors due to geographic location.
I have nothing against black characters in media but they need a better way to represent equality in films then just changing original characters to fit the bill, it ruins art imo when you could write an original character in an original film and have it be better than the race swapped material you created without putting any thought into the character.
They're basically, swapping a character for the sake of equality with no regard for how that character was clearly described in the source material, when you could write an original character that does the same thing a lot better. That being said this is not an attack on the actors portraying these roles because some of them do pretty good, Halle Bailey in the new little mermaid for example, turned out to be a decent fit.
I also think a lot of people can agree Disney is forcing equality into their recent creations in a disingenuous way, rather than putting actual effort into spreading the message because it's easier to swap a character than make a new one, which does nothing to spread a positive message.
Finally, with all this in mind, the likelihood they race swap characters in the HTTYD live action movie is pretty high, as I mentioned earlier, the general consenus by anthropologists is that there were probably no black vikings, and if there were it was incredibly rare because of geography. This can be countered by "well it's fiction so they can do whatever they want" but I for one feel that even in fiction some historical guidelines should still be followed.
Have you seen my latest video on the remake? The full cast has now been announced and they've been in production for a few weeks. But the video is less about race and more about accents, because I still have no idea which way they're going or how it's going to make any sense.
ua-cam.com/video/b_56arSVlU0/v-deo.html
@FilmScoreandMore I didn't know the full cast. My opinion is formed on the basis of casting in other movies as of late, looking at that it was likely they race swapped a character, the fact that they haven't is reassuring when it comes to quality.
@mutilatedpopsicles I looked at the cast in the video I linked. I haven’t seen most of them in anything previously so I can’t judge their acting, but Nico Parker and Julian Dennison (playing Astrid and Fishlegs respectively) are both cases of race swapping here.
Yeh Ill pass on any of these remakes.. Hate remakes in general.
I understand. And I think the more remakes we get the more people will want something new.
@@FilmScoreandMore Mean I've never experienced a good remake whether it be a movie or a game. It's always watered down, and just not nearly as good in my opinion.
Some are good. Have you seen The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty? It’s a remake that I’d say is better than the original. It’s not just a retread, it’s a new take on the core idea and it does it really well.
Movie How to Train Your Dragon Fans: I was broken to tears when Hiccup said Goodbye to Toothless!
Book How to Train Your Dragon Fans: I was broken to tears when I watched book Toothless snuggle up to Hiccup.
(I'm at the very least hoping to see thin skinny Fishlegs but who even knows at this point.)
There’s still a lot to find out. We know almost nothing about it.
@@FilmScoreandMore I just hope
Dean doesn't try to milk a live-action
TV show. I know nothing except
that odd casting choice for Astrid.
I think it’s more NBCU than him. He’s been openly against continuing the franchise past a third movie for about a decade now. Some think he was more or less forced into this, but we don’t know yet.
@@FilmScoreandMore I just don't know
what to think. I hope for your POV he's
innocent but since he already said
on a Hidden World DVD extra "It's more
than a silly little dragon that talks." that
already showed he's spiteful towards
the source material. He might not've
wanted the live-action movie but
he still tried to insert his story over
Cressida's. Sigh, I have a really, hard
if not impossible time siding with
fans of the movies/og shows.
@@YamiSpyroX I wouldn't necessarily say that's spiteful. The movies aimed not to make the dragons anthropomorphic and to have a different tone. And don't worry about who likes what. You like the books, that's fine. If you can enjoy the movies too, that's great. But otherwise don't worry about it.
Overall excellent video. Great work!
One thing I'll mention is that they could do many of this adaptation's scenes without a green screen, and that would serve to make it more realistic. While it is almost always cheaper and easier to use a green screen, Top Gun Maverick decided to use it as little as possible simply for fans; they lost money because of it and accepted the expense regardless. If this adaptation did that too, then there is a flicker of hope, a silver lining as you put it. The chances of that happening, though...
One big problem with adaptations is that we, when we watch it, naturally contrast it from the original rather than accepting it as its own work of art. This will probably happen in theaters with this film, and will likely have multiple negative effects, such as ruining the theater experience with a nitpicking mindset. The adaptation will then be seen as tarnished for such a viewer. I have a hunch that, as a result, the original will feel a bit tarnished as well. You summed this up well when describing that you need... well, a need, to watch this movie.
I never knew that the directors for D1 came in very late to the project, even later than Powell. You have mentioned before how Powell worked well under pressure. Perhaps the same thing happened to Sanders and DeBlois on the original. And, as you say, that urgency is no longer relevant. Again, I see no reason(outside of music) to watch this film, and I don't think many do.
I will say that Powell simply composes gold any time he grabs his conducting baton. At the very least, I can watch this adaptation knowing that the music will be good. I don't feel like it needs to live up to the original, and, with my opinions regarding The Hidden World soundtrack, I don't expect it to. Therefore, the music can only be added or summed to what we already have, rather than averaged like the rest of the adaptation seems like it will do. Averaged in the sense that this adaptation lowers the average quality of everything Dragons(except Nine Realms).
You nailed the part about how this is bringing back what we already let go, and were satisfied with. Couldn't have said it better.
A side note: as the music nerd I am, I keep waiting for your See You Tomorrow and This is Berk string mockups to hit the chorus, and am always shocked when they loop backward. 😂
Oh, but it hit it at the end and I got chills!!
Thanks for all your thoughts! I really don’t know how much green screen DeBlois would use. Sanders used it a ton in The Call of the Wild (his own live action debut), but DeBlois still has nothing for us to go off of.
I completely agree about adaptations. It’s impossible to separate from the original completely and judge it as its own thing.
I’m sure Powell and DeBlois could be great again, at this point there’s just nothing to go off of and I feel like I don’t have anything to be excited for yet.
As for the background music, I’m not crazy about it but it’s something that works. And it’s a frustrating part of the process because the rest of the video is done, so I usually just find a few clips that work and loop them in some order. I can worry way too much about it and I shouldn’t because most people won’t even notice it. But that ending worked out well, so I was happy about that.
Crazy. I guess I’m confused because I don’t really see a reason for a live action HTTYD. But I thought the same thing about a Last of Us show and that turned out fantastic. I suppose it’s a good sign that so many of the creative minds behind the animated movies are also behind this. And if John Powell is excited about it then I’ll at least be excited for the music.
It may be a good sign, but I wonder if things will get a little repetitive.
My guess, it’s a lazy business move for IP relevancy. Since the four realms was a disaster and with talks of a “Berk” style theme park at universal, I’m guessing this is a “playing it safe” business move to keep the Dragon IP mainstream to build on to it. Takes a lot less work to adapt a story that’s already been done then to produce a new one that could flop. It always comes back to the money.
Probably so. Unfortunately. Even though Nine Realms seems to be moderately successful and is ongoing with six seasons.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately.
I wholly expect it to be garbage, much like every other live-action remake. I have no intent to see it in theaters the first week. If it gets decent reviews then maybe the second week, but after so long with hollywood and big studios pushing out garbage games and garbage movies I have little interest in anything they pander these days
Don’t bother with it if you’re not interested. I think that’s just the best way to go.
I don’t want a live action. Plain and simple. Stories now a days don’t have endings, good ones at that, and it ended. So for me. The trilogy and the shows taking place during hiccups time is it.
I agree. HTTYD was great (and still is, you can watch it anytime), but it’s time for something new to shine.
I'm so nervous to see what the dragons will look like. It they are anything like the live show, it'll be nightmare fuel
I wonder if we’ll get a look soon. Apparently they’ve started filming.
I honestly don't know how I feel about this... The person who is going to play Astrid doesn't even look like the original Astrid... and I feel like they might want to make a prequel instead of a remake because that would probably get more views and bring people back because they probably lost a lot of people due to the Nine Realms. Than show sucks.
They’ve said since this that it’s a remake with changes. They’re doing the same thing again, but somehow different. That’s about all we know besides the full cast.
@@FilmScoreandMore Oh ok makes sense
Where did you find the making of footage with Sanders and Deblois?
It’s the “Finding The Story” documentary linked in the description. The directors had the foresight to document their process.
@@FilmScoreandMore Thanks!!!
No problem! Was this your first time seeing those clips?
@@FilmScoreandMore Yep!
It’s a great documentary. It’s very informative about every step of the process.
Universal did Warcraft, say what you want about the movie
It was great visually
I would hope so.
And I have a good idea for another animated movie. For one I think it would be cool to have a plot twist at the end where there is a part 2 of it. An army from a far land that attacks the home of dragons. And the dragons need to leave the hidden world. And hiccup and toothless should stay together and Astrid should get the light fury. The army from a far land should be huge bigger than draggo and viggo’s army together if u saw race to the edge. They should have stronger ships new weapons and a multi part movie.
I want universal to see this and take my idea in consideration,
If u want the movies to stay good it needs to use the same animation, NO LIVE ACTION
Thank you if you read this and please reply your opinions on this comment.!
That could be something.
Why does toothless have pink lips? Some things shouldn't by made into live actiion
I don’t know how it’s going to translate. They’re up for a challenge.
A live action version is a lot like a fart… if you have to push it’s probably crap.
Interesting analogy.
Personally, i would prefer if they just remade the first movie in a much higher quality. Leave everything else alone, just bring the animation to 2023 standards
So you’d prefer a remaster, still animated? That could be interesting, but I also would rather just keep the original.
I’d prefer more frequent re-releases of movies instead of remakes. I never got to see the first movie in theaters.
@@FilmScoreandMore Correct, i love the first movie but compared to the third, it looks so basic. I would love to see it in a much higher quality, as it would bring the immersion factor much higher, imo. Re releases would we awesome too, i never say the first in theater either. It would be great if they remastered it for imax or something
I’d just take the original as is. I know it’s aged a bit and was made with old programs, but I do like a lot of the animation, especially the lighting.
Honestly? I wouldn't even call it a great franchise as a whole. I think "awesome franchise that got worse and worse with each movie installment" is more fitting. After the disaster that was THW I'm not ever watching anything httyd again if DeBlois is in charge. Let's just say that the chance I'll be watching this is dwindling in the single digits. Making this LA movie is hypocritical af, Dean should've thought of that before killing the only appeal that his franchise has ever had. It's obvious that he didn't have enough success elsewhere so now he comes crawling back to the only franchise where he ever had success.
I don't want to argue or exaggerate, and your welcome to your own opinion. But I was never disappointed by HTTYD 3 and I think it's a mistake to have high expectations for a third movie made almost a decade after the original. I know things will be different and that a sequel is almost never going to live up to the original. I had enough issues with HTTYD 2 (which is still a great movie) to know not to expect better for a third (I may make a video on the issues of HTTYD 2 eventually). But I strongly feel HTTYD 3 was as good as it could be and a lot better than most trilogy endings.
We don't know DeBlois' reasoning for changing his mind yet, I'm sure it would help his image if he were more active online to at least offer some explanation. I also believe since he worked on the story for Mulan, co-directed Lilo and Stitch, and put so much into HTTYD he has proven his talent and worth and could find other work. I cut a line out of this video where I mentioned his early interest in comic books and I joked that if only someone would greenlight a comic book movie. I'm sure he could do something and while I'm not interested in this live action movie I think it's only logical that he could have some kind of plan. Thanks for your comment.
@@FilmScoreandMore I agree that httyd 2 was enjoyable but had some issues but I disagree that thw got as good as it could've gotten. I've seen countless rewrites of it that were so much better. My main issues are the characters, especially Toothless, the incoherent, illogical plot and the message that you should just give up fighting for a better world because it's hard and instead you should hide away from your problems/shove them under the rug and just get married and produce babies. I think that's a really toxic message and just can't get behind that.
As for Dean being a good writer... well, he has helped with good movies before but in httyd he always had someone by his side and as soon as he was fully in charge he messed it up, at least in my opinion, I'm not judging anyone who likes THW for whatever reason
I know what you mean. I still maintain that it works and is better than a lot of other trilogy endings. Not to mention the fact that it was a trilogy at all, unlike many movies. Did DeBlois have a lot of help on the writing of HTTYD 2? I thought that was mostly him. It's very solid and has some great ideas that just fall a little short of their potential because he was forced to rewrite it late in the game. Again, I might make a video on that one day.
Hey, Disney is remaking their renaissance films in live action and it's making a shitload of money... but they aren't good... who cares, MONEY!
I only have high hopes for the score with Powell and that's about it, but we shall see
We shall see indeed. And how many live action remakes are coming out between now and then anyway? I doubt that’s going to help much, unless this one feels incredibly fresh.
in my opinion this movie is a really bad idea, its going to be trash and ruin the franchise, especially with the poor choices they are making with the cast. I hope this movie never comes out.
I agree that the movie is a bad idea, but I stand against the idea that it will ruin anything but itself. The franchise already exists. You can watch it any time. Nothing will ruin that.
@@FilmScoreandMore I hope you're right
Regardless of what happens with the movie, just try not to worry about it. Enjoy what you like.
now I know it's official cuz john powell said so
That’s right. You can also trust The Hollywood Reporter when it comes to confirmation, they seem to wait until it’s actually confirmed.
It is a bit confusing if it is ACTUALLY a reboot. These movies are fairly new, and as you said, how are they going to improve things or what new will they bring to the table? Or is it just a greedy cash grab sort of thing.. I mean the Disney live action movies are heavily criticised but they do make a lot of money still. We shall see :) Loved the video btw :)
Thank you. Yes, they’ve set themselves up for quite a problem here. What could they possibly do?
Great job summing up my feelings about this exactly! Very well done!
Thanks for dropping in! It’s always great to hear from you.
Do it wrong and you'll end up with 2019's Lion King. Expressive voices but dead faces.
Personally I discourage this live action take. If they really want to bring back HTTYD to the screen, maybe remaster an older movie like the first one and re-release it, just like Avatar and Titanic
I say they don’t even need a remaster. It’s only been a few years.
@@FilmScoreandMore when that film comes out the film will already be 15 years old and I will be in college by then.
@@joshuamartinez1771 Congratulations in advance on making it to college.
Like I said, I'm a bit skeptical and a bit scared but tbh I'm just here for the music at this point.
I understand. Hopefully it will be great. There’s a lot Powell and DeBlois can do together again.
Love your thoughts on this!
Thanks! I’ll check out your video on it soon.
Nothing have high expectations on it sorta lowering this is why I’m more into animation
Go in neutral if you can.
@@FilmScoreandMore that’s pretty much what I’m feeling I’m probably gonna see this online than going to theaters
@watchforever1724 Good call, if that’s what you want.
@@FilmScoreandMore given how everything is expensive I would spend the money on a better movie anyway but thanks
@watchforever1724 I completely understand, movies are expensive. Especially if you don’t live near a theater. It’s a lot of time and money you have to put into it.
honestly, I just want to see what a Whispering Death would look like in live action.
I wonder if there’s any realistic fan art of it.
No dislike it
You do or don’t dislike it?
Okay, but my question is: will they bring back Jónsi to make new end-credits songs and some contributions to the score like he did with the original trilogy? This was actually (naturally) my first thought when I found out live-action HTTYD is confirmed. Anyone who knows me enough or has seen me around enough will know I was wondering this, lol.
I hadn’t thought of that. It’s a fair guess since DeBlois did it for each of the other three. Plus he and Powell work well together. Maybe they’ll collaborate more again this time.
@@FilmScoreandMore That's true. It'd be really great, I'm a really big fan of Jónsi. I know he's good friends with Dean DeBlois anyway, but I think another reason he was chosen was because since he's an Icelander he's a Viking descendant and of course the human characters in the movie are Vikings.
Yes, I’m sure that’s one of the reasons.
Have you seen my video about how Forbidden Friendship was inspired by some Sigur Rós music? I’m mentioning it again in my current video too.
ua-cam.com/video/-ZZw2a0Q6Qs/v-deo.html
DeBlois mentioned in an interview being happy to leave the franchise and hoping to direct live action movies. I stand by my theory that none of his original ideas were accepted by the studio, so now he's somehow stuck again with the franchise... which makes me feel kinda sorry for him
Do you have this interview? I’ve never heard it phrased exactly that way. I did look at his other live action commitments, but it looks like none of them ever got off the ground.
@@FilmScoreandMore
Sorry for the late response, I've only now been looking at some old interviews again to see if I can find it. The exact clip I can't find for some reason and his wording when answering similar questions doesn't make him seem as "fatigued" with the franchise. Here's some clips I've found:
ua-cam.com/video/4u5-ParLogo/v-deo.html - He mentions only dabbling with ideas for animation / live action / hybrid
ua-cam.com/video/o4_iuXiIeHk/v-deo.html - He mentions specifically working on Micronauts and Treasure -Planet- Island
ua-cam.com/video/iqZkJ24bDqo/v-deo.html - Maybe his most poignant response; on saying goodbye to the franchise, he does mention here that it's "necessary. You need to freshen it up to stay creatively alive. [...] I'm ready for something knew, and I think most people are as well."
ua-cam.com/video/QONbiUMQB2c/v-deo.html - Brief confirmation that he is working on a live action project for Dreamworks (the interview is from 2020, so he might've already been involved with HTTYD then)
In the second interview he also mentions being a little disappointed that he wasn't able to better flesh out the supporting characters (most notably Astrid), mostly due to the constraints on runtime length and scope. So maybe he's looking forward to incorporate more complex and darker themes into the live action adaptation.
@erifetim I remember that he’s expressed interest in going that sort of direction.
Thanks for digging up the links. That's all useful to know. It's a shame if he's more or less just stuck with this movie with only some hope of fleshing things out a bit more, and I'd hoped he could get to something new instead.
And it's interesting that you found confirmation from 2020 that he was working on a live-action project for Dreamworks even then.
This will be just like the 2019 Lion King remake. People will only like it because they remember how much they liked the original. All the changes made from the original Lion King in the 2019 remake made the script, story and characters significantly worse, and the things people tended to like about it were things the original film already had. I imagine that will also be the case with HTTYD.
That might be a fair guess. And like that one, the original composer is returning to... remix his original cues? I still have no idea what Powell will do with this one.
Very curious as to how they'll actually produce this. I'm hoping it's going to be a bit more grittier than the original, a bit more intense, however I am very doubtful they'd do that considering the franchise, and DreamWorks animation as a whole has been relatively kid friendly. Hopefully they have something to contribute than it just being a live action version of the first film, because if it is the latter I'll be pretty disappointed, though not surprised.
A lot of people are waiting to see what they do there. I think they probably will go a little darker and grittier. Whether or not that works out remains to be seen.
I hope so. Another concern of mine is specifically how they are going to handle Toothless. The other dragons I think could be translated into a realistic style a bit more easier but considering how toothless is far, far more expressive I don't know how they'd accomplish it.
Yes, the other dragons are more reptilian or avian while Toothless is more mammalian by design. They’re certainly up against a lot of challenges here.
Tbh the main reason I don’t like live action anymore is because they favor CGI over traditional effects. Traditional effects can do a lot for you, but Marvel has taken that and thrown it out the window
Will I watch the movie? Probably. HTTYD was my childhood
Will I like it is a whole nother question that I can’t answer at this point
I know what you mean. And the shame about Marvel is they started with such a convincing mix of live action practical effects and CGI, back with Iron Man in 2008. They used as many practical effects as they could. But it’s largely gone out the window now.
Yes.
Yes?
the live action wont be good cuz race swapping
There are a lot of things that could make it not good.
Animation will always be better. This is another mistake. Just leave great things alone, stop ruining everything. Make something new!!!!
I know, I agree. I really want something new now.
Blah blah blah moan moan moan meow meow can't be done because I do not want to grow up and want to live in a fantasy animated world. Your video is like a flat earth video: it will not be good because that's what I want to believe.
I don’t think we’re on the same page. I’m not complaining, I’m just addressing some issues the movie is facing. I have no problem with you looking forward to the movie or enjoying it when it comes out.
@FilmScoreandMore That's how it came out... at least to me. Also, where you see problems, others see challenges and solutions. Your tone is too negative, methinks.
So what solutions do you see? This is merely a video about those issues it’s facing, we don’t have any of the answers yet. You’re welcome to speculate here.
I have a few pet 'conspiracies' about the remake, the first being Universal was none too happy that Dean effectively burned the franchise down with an 'all the magic goes away forever, fuck you' ending while their httyd park was probably still in the planning stages. They want a franchise they can continuously go back to and merchandise like JP, but Dean killed the property before they could do anything else with it.
The second? Its a little conspicuous that this announcement came shortly after the smash success of Avatar 2, and the critical acclaim of House of the Dragon. I dare say they wanted to see how those properties landed to gauge where the audience was for their own film. Not necessarily as a one-to-one comparison of course, but a general test that films can still make it big, and that live action with dragons can get viewers.
The third: Nine Realms was already in some stage of production, but its budget was slashed and the whole thing became more of a fan barometer of where the franchise should go. The resounding answer is: _not_ to the modern day with dragons being secret forever.
Here are my thoughts:
I know a portion of the fans strongly disliked the third movie, but the fact is (as I covered in my Nine Realms video) it made more money than the previous two movies. It was also already decided over a decade ago that it would be a trilogy, so Dreamworks and Universal should have known what they were getting; an profitable franchise with an ending. It just happens that Universal became the distributor late in the game. The theme park is very late and (realistically) short-sighted. This was never going to be an ongoing franchise with decades worth of material to serve the theme park. Theme parks are massive investments and built to last. DisneyLand is almost 70 years old.
I've heard the House Of The Dragon argument, but I don't understand it. It has dragons and parts were inspired by HTTYD, but it's not like dragons were an unproven concept before or had not been done well on film. It feels just tangentially related.
I don't know as much about Nine Realms or how long it was in development. It just seemed to spring up one day, but has been moving surprisingly fast. I do know opinions are divided at best, like with the announcement of this live action movie.
@@FilmScoreandMore I don't think they intend to _copy_ HotD by any means, more like they wanted to peek across the aisle and see what grade they got on the metaphorical test. That show is the first 'big' piece of live-action dragon media since... maybe Monster Hunter? (if you want to be generous with what counts as a 'dragon movie') which was a mixed bag at best. You have to go back to the early 2000s to find more full theatrical domestic releases that are entirely about dragons, like Eragon and Reign of Fire. There were some direct-to-video films like the Dragonheart prequels, but... off the top of my head I can't think of a single non-animated film about dragons that pulled the same numbers as the HTTYD franchise. Its understandable that Universal would look at the first close comparison to come by before giving a green light.
@@arourallis I was thinking more of the Hobbit movies since they prominently featured a dragon. But I still don't see it would change anything.