How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a 2019 American computer-animated action fantasy film loosely based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and the final installment in the How to Train Your Dragon film trilogy. Written and directed by Dean DeBlois, the film stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, and F. Murray Abraham. The film's plot follows Hiccup seeking a dragon utopia called "The Hidden World" while coming to terms with Toothless' new bond with a female Fury.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World was released on January 3, 2019 in Australia, and February 22, 2019 in the United States. It is the first DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by Universal Pictures, whose parent company NBCUniversal acquired DWA in 2016, rather than 20th Century Fox, with which the studio previously had a distribution deal. It received positive reviews from critics who cited the animation, action sequences, musical score, voice acting and emotional messages, and has grossed $181 million worldwide, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2019.

Plot
One year after defending Berk from Drago, Hiccup and Toothless continue to rescue captured dragons in order to bring them back to Berk and create a bustling dragon and human utopia. Unfortunately, their efforts have also resulted in the island becoming severely overpopulated with dragons. In a response to the overcrowding, Hiccup desires to find the "Hidden World", a safe haven for dragons that his late father Stoick told him about. Meanwhile, a white Fury dragon, held captive by warlords, is given to infamous dragon hunter Grimmel the Grisly as bait for him to capture Toothless for the warlords' use as an alpha.

Toothless discovers the white Fury (dubbed a "Light Fury" by Astrid) in the woods and the two quickly become enchanted with each other until the Light Fury, sensing Hiccup's nearby presence, flees. Hiccup and Tuffnut later discover Grimmel's dragon traps in the area. Grimmel visits Hiccup that night, revealing that he hunted and killed all the other Night Furies except Toothless, but Hiccup has prepared an ambush to capture him; Grimmel escapes, burning down Hiccup's house and part of Berk, threatening to return if Grimmel doesn't get Toothless soon. In response, Hiccup rallies the citizens and dragons to leave Berk on a quest to find the Hidden World and safety from dragon hunters.

Mid-journey, the Berkians discover an island on which they initially plan to rest for a short while, but soon begin to settle there, even if only temporarily. While there, Toothless meets the Light Fury again and after a few failed attempts, he manages to woo her with a drawing of her in the sand. Seeing Toothless's inability to fly solo hindering his growing relationship with the Light Fury, Hiccup rebuilds an automatic tail for him. Upon receiving the tail, Toothless flies off, meeting the Light Fury on his own and flying with her to an unknown land. Valka, on a scouting patrol, notices Grimmel's approaching army and quickly reports back to Hiccup. Hiccup and the dragon riders head to capture Grimmel; yet, they fall into his trap and barely escape. Ruffnut is captured, but irritates Grimmel until he lets her go and secretly follows her to the Berkians' new location.

Hiccup and Astrid, searching for Toothless, find the Hidden World and see Toothless and the Light Fury leading the dragons there as a happily mated couple. When the two are soon discovered, Toothless rescues Hiccup and Astrid and returns them to the Berkians, with Hiccup realizing his people would be intruders and unsafe in the Hidden World. Suddenly, Grimmel appears and captures Toothless and the Light Fury (who followed Toothless). Toothless's alpha status allows Grimmel to capture the rest of Berk's dragons by threatening to kill the Light Fury if any dragon or Berkian attacks.

With Astrid's encouragement, Hiccup sets out with the dragon riders to stop Grimmel and his army. Gliding on wingsuits, they catch Grimmel's army off-guard, igniting a battle. Hiccup frees Toothless, while Grimmel drugs the Light Fury into obeying him. Hiccup and Toothless give chase, but Grimmel tranquilizes Toothless midair causing the dragon to fall helplessly. Hiccup, realizing he cannot rescue Toothless alone, frees the Light Fury and implores her to save Toothless. Hiccup is fully prepared to sacrifice himself in order to save Toothless as both he and Grimmel plummet toward the sea. The Light Fury, however, returns to save Hiccup as well while Grimmel impacts the water and drowns.

Back on the island, both Toothless and Hiccup fully realize that dragons will never be safe in the human world. Hiccup bids a tearful farewell to Toothless as all of the Berkians set their dragons free to live in the Hidden World. Toothless brings all the dragons to his command for one last time as the Light Fury leads him and the rest of the dragons away to their new home. Sometime later, Hiccup and Astrid marry on the island on which the Berkians have settled.

A few years into the future, Hiccup, Astrid, and their two children sail across the sea to reunite with the dragons at the edge of the Hidden World. There Toothless and the Light Fury are shown to have mated and have given birth to three dragon fledglings. After introducing his children to his old friend, Hiccup takes their son flying on Toothless while Astrid and their daughter fly on Stormfly, accompanied by the Light Fury and their offspring. Hiccup vows that until humankind can coexist peacefully with each other, the dragons will stay hidden until the time comes when they will return in peace.

Cast

 * Jay Baruchel as Hiccup
 * America Ferrera as Astrid
 * F. Murray Abraham as Grimmel
 * Cate Blanchett as Valka
 * Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast
 * Craig Ferguson as Gobber the Belch
 * Jonah Hill as Snotlout Jorgenson
 * Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs Ingerman
 * Kristen Wiig and Justin Rupple as Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston
 * Kit Harington as Eret
 * David Tennant as Spitelout and Ivar the Witless

Production
In December 2010, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that there would also be a third film in the series: "How To Train Your Dragon is at least three: maybe more, but we know there are at least three chapters to that story." Dean DeBlois, the writer and director of the second and the third film, said that How to Train Your Dragon 2 is being intentionally designed as the second act of the trilogy: "There are certain characters and situations that come into play in the second film that will become much more crucial to the story by the third." DeBlois said in an interview that the third part will be released in 2016. Although the series has taken a different path of telling a story of Hiccup and Vikings, Cressida Cowell has revealed that the trilogy and the book series will have similar endings (with "an explanation as to why dragons are no more").

The film is being produced by Bonnie Arnold, and exec-produced by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders. Jay Baruchel, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Kristen Wiig are set to return in the third film, with Justin Rupple replacing T.J. Miller as Tuffnut. Cate Blanchett will also reprise her role as Valka from the second film. On November 14, 2017, it was announced that Kit Harington will reprise his role as Eret and F. Murray Abraham has joined the cast. In the earlier stages of production, DeBlois has stated that Djimon Hounsou would also return as Drago Bludvist. It was even planned to have Drago redeemed by the film's end, but halfway through development, DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg convinced DeBlois that the story of Drago's redemption required more screen time that they could not provide, causing his inclusion to be scrapped. On April 17, 2018, DreamWorks Animation announced that the sequel's title has changed to How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.

Music
John Powell, who composed the previous two films, returned to compose the film's score. Also returning from the previous films, Jónsi wrote a new song for the film, titled "Together From Afar", which was released as a single in January 31, 2019. Jónsi also provided vocals for a track titled "The Hidden World".

Release and marketing
In September 2012, 20th Century Fox, the studio's then-distributor partner, and DreamWorks Animation announced the release date for June 18, 2016, which was later changed to June 17, 2016. In September 2014, the film's release date was moved to June 9, 2017. DeBlois explained the release date shift: "It's just that these movies take three years. I think it was a little ambitious to say 2016 (laughs). As is normally the case, they kind of throw darts out into the future and wherever they land they call that a release date until we start talking about it in practical terms, and then it's like, 'Uh yeah that's not enough time. So knowing that they take three years from this moment, from outlining and writing the screenplay through to the final lighting of it, it's just a process of building models and doing tests and animating, storyboarding, the whole thing just adds up to about three years."

In January 2015, the release date was pushed back to June 29, 2018 following corporate restructuring, massive lay-offs, and to maximize the company's "creative talent and resources, reduce costs, and drive profitability." On June 18, 2016, the release date was moved up to May 18, 2018, taking over the release date of Warner Animation Group's The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. On December 5, 2016, the US release date was pushed back again to March 1, 2019, taking over the slot previously held by Universal Animation Studios' Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm. Then on September 27, 2018, the release date moved once again to February 22, 2019, taking over the slot of Sony Pictures Animation's Addie and The Turning, a live-action DreamWorks film.

On May 31, 2018, the first poster was released and the first official trailer premiered on June 7. The second trailer was released online on October 25, 2018.

Box office
In the United States and Canada, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World was released alongside the wide expansion of Fighting with My Family, and is projected to gross $40–45 million from 4,259 theaters in its opening weekend. The film held early screenings at 1,000 theaters on February 2, 2019 and grossed $2.5 million, one of the highest advance showing totals ever. It then made an additional $3 million from Thursday night previews at 3,200 theaters.

The film grossed $1.5 million on its opening day in Australia, setting a record for a DreamWorks Animation film in that country (surpassing Shrek 2). In New Zealand, the film grossed $173,000 on its opening day, ranking as DreamWorks Animation's second biggest opening day in the country, behind Shrek 2. By its third weekend of international release the film has grossed a total of $41 million, with the largest markets being Australia ($14.4 million), Brazil ($4.5 million) and Indonesia ($4.1 million).

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 155 reviews, and an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The rare trilogy capper that really works, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World brings its saga to a visually dazzling and emotionally affecting conclusion." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".