How To Train Your Dragon 2 may be opening in a few weeks, but the series’ third installment was already set in stone as far back as September 2012 when DreamWorks unveiled a tentative feature film slate that capped off with that very film at summer 2016. The third film is still set to come out in the summer of 2016, but now talks of a fourth film has surfaced.
Here is what series composer John Powell had to say…
“I saw Dean in Cannes, we had a premiere of the film there, and he was very merry and a bit drunk and he sort of knew about [How to Train Your Dragon 3] and I think it was mentioned to him by Jeffrey that maybe they would do ’4.’ And that was definitely, I think, a real kind of eye-opener for Dean and for me because it’s like, ‘Hey, I thought this was a trilogy?’ (Laughs.) So I don’t know, and it might be good because he’s got a lot of story left to tell, so maybe splitting it into two will work, but I just don’t know about that yet. I’m supposing that at the moment, Dean has an idea for the third one and he isn’t telling any of us yet.”
This isn’t surprising, considering the success of the series so far (including the well-liked and successful TV series that’s now moving to Netflix) and the fact that the source material spans multiple books. There’s so much to explore, plus DreamWorks had similar – if not bigger – ambitions for other franchises. Four years ago, it was announced that there would be two Kung Fu Panda trilogies (after the third one comes out in 2015, we’ll see if we’ll get 3 more or not) and a fourth Madagascar, which could still very well be in the cards. Heck, there’s talk of a fifth Shrek!
All that aside, Powell implied that How To Train Your Dragon 3 could be split into two movies much like the finales of the Harry Potter, Twilight and Divergent film series. It seems like a trend that’s slowly but surely catching on, with Independence Day‘s sequel supposedly being part one of a two-part epic (ID Forever), one Marvel movie I won’t mention for the sake of those who did not see said film, and perhaps more Part 2 movies planned.
With a lot to mine from, DreamWorks will most likely move forward with How To Train Your Dragon 4. If the second film is a smash hit (which it most likely will, thanks to strong marketing and goodwill carried over from the first film), then we’ll probably start hearing more about it.
Do you think they should make ‘How To Train Your Dragon 4’? Do you think the third film will be split into two parts? Sound off below!
(via Screen Rant)