‘How to Train Your Dragon’ director says most live-action remakes seem unnecessary — except his

Dean DeBlois, the director of the “How to Train Your Dragon” live-action remake, told Business Insider that he thinks live-action remakes are unnecessary.

But he believes his is different, because it creates a new pathway for remakes that keep the franchises’ “soul intact,” he said.

DeBlois said during an online Q&A at the 2020 Annecy International Animation Film Festival that he is not interested in re-dos and thought studios were being “lazy.”

While DeBlois hasn’t changed his mind, he told BI: “I still see a lot of live-action remakes as being unnecessary, and you could argue that this one is unnecessary.

“It is being delivered as a love letter to the fans, and it is being made with a lot of care and a lot of heart from everyone on the production.”

He added: “I would say that maybe if it’s done by the original filmmakers, it warrants a little more respect and praise than perhaps the ‘let’s knock ’em all off’ kind of attitude.”

The new film, out Friday, is DeBlois’ first live-action movie after co-directing the original animated “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise, which made $1.6 billion across three films.

He also co-directed the “Lilo & Stitch” animated movies, but the recent live-action remake was not directed or written by the original team.

Although fans of the original “Lilo & Stitch” movie criticized the new film, it has become the third-highest-grossing movie of the year following its release last month.

“How to Train Your Dragon” is Universal’s first foray into live-action remakes, after Disney’s including “Lilo & Stitch,” grossed over $8 billion at the box office.

DeBlois said that after Universal Studios contacted him about potentially commissioning a new “How to Train Your Dragon,” he instantly wanted to direct it.

“I’m not that big of a fan of the trend of remaking animated movies into live action,” he said. “I want to be in charge of this one so I can preserve its integrity and pay tribute to the fans as well.”

But DeBlois ultimately hopes studios still pursue original stories.

“I do hope that in the live-action space, with enough financial success, we can start to take a few more risks on establishing new original stories that could pay off to become great franchises for studios,” DeBlois said.

“But at the moment, I think we all understand it’s a bit risk-averse when you talk about big movies that are expensive to make, nobody wants to be sort of left with a flop on their hands,” he added.

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