‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Live-Action Remake Adds Nick Frost as One of the Vikings (Exclusive)

Nick Frost has entered the Viking village.

Frost, perhaps best known for his starring turns in Edgar Wright movies such as Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, has joined the cast of Universal Pictures’ live-action adaptation of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

• Gerard Butler Reprising 'How to Train Your Dragon' Role for Live-Action Remake

• 'How to Train Your Dragon' Live-Action Movie in the Works from Dean DeBlois, Universal

• European Streamer Viaplay Takes DreamWorks Animation Series

Dean DeBlois, who co-wrote and directed the original and revered trilogy, is steering the new feature, returning as writer, director and producer.

The project already has Mason Thames (The Black Phone) and Nico Parker (The Last of Us) set to star as Hiccup and Astrid, the young teens who befriend dragons. Gerard Butler, who voiced Stoick the Vast, the leader of the Viking clan and Hiccup’s father, is reprising his role in the flesh.

Frost will play Gobber the Belch, the trusted friend and adviser of Stoick.

Using the books by Cressida Cowell as a jumping-off point, How to Train Your Dragon focused on the special friendship between a young and unheroic Viking boy named Hiccup, and Toothless, an injured dragon he nurses back to health. The movies chronicled Hiccup and Toothless’ quest to combat humanity’s prejudice against dragons, the ache of overcoming the loss of a parent, and first love.

Producing along with DeBlois are Marc Platt, via his Universal-based Marc Platt Productions, as well as that company’s president, Adam Siegel. VP of production Lexi Barta is overseeing the film on behalf of the studio.

Universal has set a June 13, 2025, release date for the feature.

Frost has starred opposite Simon Pegg in Wright’s trio of movies known as The Cornetto Trilogy — Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. He also wrote and starred in Area 51 road trip comedy Paul. In recent years, the actor has been spending time on the small screen, appearing in shows such as CBS’ Why Women Kill, HBO’s The Nevers and AMC’s Into the Badlands.

Frost has several films in the can, among them Krazy House, a comedy horror starring Alicia Silverstone, which is premiering at Sundance. He will also appear in Corin Hardy’s Whistle, the follow-up to 2018’s The Nun.

He is repped by Independent Talent Group and Think Tank Management.

Best of The Hollywood Reporter

• Most Anticipated Movie Releases of 2024

• ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy Cast, Then and Now

• Eight Actors Who Have Played Willy Wonka in Films and on Broadway