Universal’s How To Train Your Dragon leads new releases in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as the live-action remake opens in 670 sites, having already grossed £2.4m through previews from Monday (June 9).
The family feature will be hoping to match the opening weekends for the animated trilogy, the first of which opened on £4.8m (including £2.1m in previews) in 2010 via Paramount. This was followed by a £7.8m England-and-Wales debut (including £4.9m in previews) for the 2014 sequel in a staggered UK and Ireland release by Fox, and £5.3m for the third film, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, via Universal in 2019.
The latest How To Train Your Dragon, starring Mason Thames and Nico Parker, will be up against fellow live-action remake Lilo & Stitch which has held on to the top spot for three weeks running. That title, via Disney, opened on £8m last month while other recent live-action remakes include Snow White (£3.9m debut, March 2025) and Mufasa: The Lion King (£4.4m debut, 2024), also for Disney.
Directed by Dean BeBlois, who also directed the original animated films, How To Train Your Dragon centres on a young Viking boy who befriends a dragon. Further cast include Gerard Butler, Nick Frost and Julian Denninson.
Tornado whirls in
Lionsgate is launching survival thriller Tornado in 165 locations. Jack Lowden, Tim Roth and Takehiro Hira star in John Maclean’s Edinburgh premiere set in 1790s Britain. It follows a Japanese woman who crosses paths with a gang of ruthless criminals who murder her father.
Lionsgate is also re-releasing Oasis documentary Supersonic in 310 venues from Sunday (June 15).
Hong Kong drama The Way We Talk is out in 52 cinemas via Central City Media. Directed by Adam Wong, the film premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and centres around a woman with a cochlear implant who is torn between the hearing world and the deaf community.
MetFilm Distribution is releasing UK drama Lollipop in 29 sites. Daisy-May Hudson’s narrative feature debut world premiered at Edinburgh and follows a young mother newly released from prison.
Icon Film Distribution is screening the musical Juliet & Romeo, having opened on Wednesday (June 11), which features cameos from Rebel Wilson and Jason Isaacs. The distributor also has the French comedy Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.
Further releases include documentary Love & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf via Cinematik (June 10); serial killer horror Protein via Bulldog Film Distribution; and Indian action Dakuaan Da Munda 3 via Zee Studios.
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