The hotly anticipated sequel, 'How to Train Your Dragon 3', has been delayed from its original release date of May 18, 2018, to March 1, 2019. This is the project's third delay, as previously it was scheduled to hit theatres in summer 2016, two years after the second installment, and then to 2018. The film, according to writer-director Dean DeBlois, is a coming of age tale, with Hiccup and Toothless as the chiefs of their tribes, and each struggling with the responsibilities of leadership and maintaining order. The previous films, based on the books by Cressida Cowell, grossed over a billion dollars combined.
What's been going on at Dreamworks?
The last few years have not been overly kind to Dreamworks Animation, or the most consistent. Projects like 2013's 'Turbo' and 2014's 'Mr Peabody and Sherman' were commercial disappointments, and many films suffered delays or were scrapped altogether (like Mumbai Musical, Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves, B.O.O: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, and more recently, Croods 2) following financial troubles, job cuts and internal restructuring. On April 28, 2016, NBCUniversal made an announcement that they were acquiring Dreamworks, thus also making it a subsidiary of Comcast, with a greater focus on franchising their movies (including a fifth 'Shrek' sequel and the upcoming 'Captain Underpants' Film).
Coming up from Dreamworks
In the meantime, Dreamworks also has recently released 'Trolls', based on the famous line of figurines, and next year will see the release of the comedy 'Boss Baby' and 'Captain Underpants'. Universal has also scheduled 'Larrikins', an Australian musical compsoed and co-directed by Tim Minchin (Matilda), for February 16, 2018, and 'Everest', an animated adventure about a Yeti, for September 27, 2019.
This will be helmed by directors Tim Johnson (Over the Hedge, Home) and Todd Wilderman, with a screenplay from William Davies (Johnny English, Flushed Away). As for 'Dragons', one can head over to Netflix to enjoyed the television series, 'Dreamworks Dragons'.
