How to Train your Dragon 2025 with Gerard Butler: Latest Hollywood film to exploit natural beauty of Northern Ireland has been filming at Tollymore Forest Park

The highly-anticipated live-action remake of the popular Dreamworks animated film officially started shooting in Northern Ireland at the start of January in the Titanic Studios in Belfast.

The movie follows Hiccup, an undersized teenager wishing to become a dragon slayer like the other Vikings and his journey with a dragon he names Toothless.

The original animated film was released in 2010, with a sequel following back in 2014 and the final film, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, released in 2019.

The series is loosely based on a series of children's books written by British author Cressida Cowell with the same name.

Cast members include some big Hollywood names such as Gerard Butler as Stoick, Nick Frost as Gobber, Mason Thames as Hiccup and Nico Parker as Astrid

Tollymore Forest Park has been the venue for filming over the past week, with tell tale signs including copious yellow signage to direct filming personnel, as well as trucks rigs and scaffolding which is apparently used for stunt work.

The key giveaway was small yellow signs with the capital letters HTD, standing for How to Train your Dragon - obviously!

The atmosphere around the park has been relaxed, however, with staff being quite open about the movie, and no real restrictions on the public while filming takes place.

Local SDLP councillor Laura Devlin says that locals have been abuzz all week with the activity and talk of the film.

"Last Friday morning, I went for a run around Tollymore and the film crews were all over the forest park and signage was everywhere," she told the News Letter.

"There was scaffolding and you could see lots of activity. The local talk was that it was ‘How To Train Your Dragon’."

"My mum asked me this morning why there was signage outside our kids school and I told her it was directing people to Tollymore Forest Park.”

As a local councillor, she is rightly proud of the fact that Tollymore has become a popular spot for filming projects based in the Titanic Quarter.

"Yes, it is absolutely superb. It's just one of our jewells."

Laura was pretty pleased to say that she did not come unexpectedly face to face with any actual dragons during her jog around the park.

However, she would have been much happier had she bumped into Hollywood heart throb Gerard Butler on her run.

"But unfortunately that didn't happen," she added.

The Holywood A-Lister has however been seen in other spots around wider Belfast since filming began in January

It is understood filming for the movie will wrap up in several weeks.

Due to delays from industry strike action, the live action remake has been pushed back from a March 2024 release date to June 2025.

How to Train Your Dragon is the latest in a long line of fantasy shows to be shot in Northern Ireland, others having included Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves and of course, Game of Thrones.