Gerard Butler is doing something pretty unique: reprising the role of an animated character he voiced… in live-action form. He will once again play Hiccup’s father Stoick in the new live-action version of the iconic DreamWorks animated movie “How to Train Your Dragon”. This is one of Universal’s tentpole releases for the summer, opening on June 13th (with a sequel already confirmed for 2027).
Butler’s on-screen debut was opposite Judi Dench in 1997’s “Mrs. Brown”. I thought he was excellent in 2004’s underrated film adaptation of the Broadway musical “The Phantom of the Opera”. But it was Zack Snyder’s “300” in 2007 that shot Butler up to the A-list. Roles soon followed in “P.S. I Love You” and “Nim’s Island” (with Oscar winners Hilary Swank and Jodie Foster, respectively), along with a Guy Ritchie collaboration in “RocknRolla”. Butler also headlined rom-coms “The Ugly Truth” with Katherine Heigl and “The Bounty Hunter” with Jennifer Aniston.
But it’s the action movie genre where Butler has really built up his filmography, including “Gamer”, “Law Abiding Citizen”, “Gods of Egypt”, “Geostorm”, “Hunter Killer”, “Copshop”, “Plane” and “Kandahar”. “Greenland” is getting a sequel. “Den of Thieves” just had one (with a third installment in the works). And, of course, we can’t leave out the “Has Fallen” trilogy: “Olympus” in 2013, “London” in 2016 and “Angel” in 2019. Some of these flicks, and others on Butler’s resume, like “Chasing Mavericks” and “Playing for Keeps”, made more money and were more entertaining than others. But he absolutely has a loyal fan following and has often delivered solid and effective performances even amidst some of the craziest ‘life or death’ situations his characters face.
Now a new generation of kids (and those who grew-up with the original “Dragon” trilogy) will get to see him in another blockbuster, with multiple Oscar nominee Dean DeBlois back in the director’s chair.