Cate Blanchett Returns as Valka for Live-Action ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’
For its upcoming live-action remake of “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” Universal and DreamWorks are turning to the original voice of Valka, Cate Blanchett, to reprise the role on camera.
Blanchett is the second member of the “Dragon” animated voice cast to make the leap to the remake series. She follows Gerard Butler, who played Hiccup’s father Stoick the Vast in both the first “How to Train Your Dragon” in 2010 and in last year’s remake, which made $636 million at the global box office.
In the 2014 animated sequel, a now teenage and more confident Hiccup encounters his mother Valka, whom Stoick believed to be dead after she was taken by a dragon during a raid. Not only did she survive, but she has become a dragon tamer just like Hiccup, and has lived peacefully with dragons on a secluded island.
Dean DeBlois, writer-director of the animated trilogy and the remake, returns in the same role as well as executive producer. Remake lead Mason Thames will return to play Hiccup in a cast that also includes Nico Parker, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James and Harry Trevaldwyn. Marc Platt will produce alongside Adam Siegel, with Universal production SVP Lexi Barta overseeing the film on behalf of the studio.
Blanchett, a two-time Oscar winner, most recently appeared in Jim Jarmusch’s Golden Lion-winning drama “Father Mother Sister Brother” and in Steven Soderbergh’s spy thriller “Black Bag” opposite Michael Fassbender. She is repped by CAA.
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” will hit theaters June 11, 2027. The casting was first reported by THR.
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