How to Train Your Dragon gets a sequel

It was only a matter of time before DreamWorks announced plans for a sequel to How to Train Your Dragon. As well as overwhelmingly positive reviews (98% on Rotten Tomatoes) the film has stayed within the top 3 at the US box office since its release, and also managed to reclaim the #1 spot this weekend.

As part of its First Quarter financial results DreamWorks Animation confirmed that they have a new franchise on the hands, and that we can expect to see a sequel in 2013.

From ComingSoon:

“2010 is off to a strong start, thanks in large part to the performance of ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ which – having grossed nearly $375 million to date in worldwide box office – has become DreamWorks Animation’s next franchise. We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation. “3D continues to have a tremendous impact on the industry at large and we are now looking forward with great anticipation to bringing ‘Shrek Forever After,’ the final chapter in our beloved ‘Shrek’ series and the first in 3D, to audiences across the globe next month.”

If they follow the books of which How to Train Your Dragon is loosely based then the title of the sequel may be How to Be a Pirate. In the book Hiccup and Fishlegs find a coffin out at sea. When they open it, they find out that it contains a man named Alvin the Treacherous, soon to become Hiccup’s worst enemy. He tells them of how he found the coffin when he was farming, and when he opened it, it snapped his hand off. He shows the Vikings that he has a hook to replace it. He then tells them of a riddle that shows where to find the treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly, the world’s greatest pirate and Hiccup’s great-great grandfather.

There are 7 other books in the series, such as How to Speak Dragonese and How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse, so they could potentially follow the story of any of them.