Helen Sloan / Universal Pictures
- The co-director of "How to Train Your Dragon" is back with a live-action remake of the original movie. He's not a fan of remakes and acknowledged that they can seem unnecessary, but thinks his is different.He told BI he hopes studios will take "more risks on establishing new original stories."
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.
Universal Pictures
"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.
