More than 15 years after the release of Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders' adaptation of Cressida Cowell's novels, DeBlois has revisited How to Train Your Dragon as a live-action movie, recreating shot-for-shot the famous boop scene.

Dean DeBlois, director of the new live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon, aimed to faithfully recreate the series' most iconic scenes, including the famous 'boop' moment between Hiccup and Toothless. The production team used a combination of puppeteering and choreography, with a foam Toothless head and a carefully coordinated dance-like sequence, to capture the emotional resonance of the original animated film.

Gerard Butler's portrayal of the Viking chief was highlighted for its authenticity, with his costume and performance adding to the character's gravitas. The film also features dynamic action sequences, particularly for the character Astrid, whose fighting style was developed to ensure she appeared strong and inspiring for young viewers.

'How to Train Your Dragon' recreates the iconic Toothless boop

I just wanted to jump straight in to what is arguably the most famous scene in the How to Train Your Dragon series, which is the boop scene. It's the little boop. And recreating that scene must have been quite a challenge in live action. Can you take me through how you approached that particular scene, because I think it's in a lot of people's hearts that love the series. Yeah. Well, we wanted to recreate as faithfully as we could that scene through live action on a stage with our cove set, but almost shot for shot. That exact moment. And also later, the test drive scene when they're flying over the clouds. We wanted those to be really faithful as a tribute to the fans. And the way that we achieved it, really, was relying very heavily upon our team of puppeteers, namely Tom Wilton, who was operating our toothless. So we had a foam head for toothless, and we had a body and a tail. And they had worked out, his puppeteering partner, Sarah, had worked out the footsteps and the sand and the path between all of the drawn lines and how that was going to work. And it just became this dance. It was wonderful, because Mason has a background in ballet. It probably looks just like I'm stepping over some stuff, but going into it, we had about a week and a half of training and practicing that with getting every step on each note for the song, because we had the song playing. And every single thing, it was a dance. And I think ballet really helped with that, getting that down. So just figuring out how they were going to move together, and how toothless was behaving within the scene, beautifully puppeteered by Tom Wilton, and leading up to that moment where there's a hesitation and a touch. But when we started playing the music, John Powell's music on top of it, the whole stage kind of just got really quiet, and it transformed, and it felt like a moment of real wonder in the midst of all of this chaos of filmmaking, where people felt like they were making something special. And you also have Gerard Butler, who is in full This Is Sparta mode, but as a Viking King. Yes. It's right here, right now! What was it like seeing that character brought to life through Butler, who seems to have had the best time ever? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got to see him in costume for the first time when we were shooting another scene just next door. And I walked over to the soundstage, and he walked in, and massive, like they'd managed to expand his frame with the giant horns and the cape and everything under it, and he was just in character. I'd been talking to Jerry earlier that day, and then by the time he walked in, he couldn't help but be stoic. And you felt the burden, like the physical burden, but also the burden of his mission and who he was as a failing parent and a failing Viking chief, not able to find the dragon's nest. And it was wonderful, because a couple lines in, he just said, take this thing off of me, it's so heavy. But I felt really convinced that this wasn't Jerry Butler at a renaissance fair. He was definitely our Viking chief. Nico Astrid gets to kick absolute butt. I love her fighting style in this movie. Think at one point you get to chop a tooth with an axe. What did you love about your fighting style in this movie? I mean, that scene particularly was just me on set for the filming of that stuff, and it was my own personal rage room. It was so fun. I think initially it was something that I found incredibly daunting, because it just felt quite... There was something about yelling really loudly and flailing your arms around, I found that actually really vulnerable. But once we started doing it, that stuff was the most rewarding by miles. And I also think that when I watch the film, I always kind of feel very proud of myself and proud of all of the work that we put in to make sure that she looks really strong and she feels really strong, and so that kids can watch it, and she's kind of, at least to me, she kind of feels like the action hero of it in that sense.

Russia pummeled Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war, injuring at least 23 people and damaging buildings across the capital only hours after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Russia's Vladimir Putin, officials said.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Russia hits Kyiv with largest drone attack after Trump-Putin call

U.S. President Donald Trump marked the passage of the new spending bill, which includes changes to food assistance, student loan programs, and clean energy credits. Robert Costa joins "CBS Mornings" to break down what's in the legislation.

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More than 80 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Thursday (July 3), according to health officials, as Israel intensified its strikes, hitting a school-turned-displacement facility. CNN’s Paula Hancocks looks at the damage and humanitarian toll.

Jerusalem

More than 80 people killed in Gaza in one day

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv will do "anything" to advance EU accession talks. Zelenskyy spoke alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, President of the European Council António Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

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President Donald Trump said Washington will start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they will face on imports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual deals.

Global Tariffs

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Indonesian rescuers on Thursday (July 3) temporarily halted a search for 30 people still missing after a ferry carrying 65 people sank near the island of Bali with the loss of six lives, the national search and rescue agency said.

Gilimanuk

Indonesia suspends search for 30 missing after ferry sinks near Bali

After marathon debate sessions in the Senate and House, President Donald Trump’s budget bill passed in the House. Republicans secured the biggest win of Trump’s presidency.

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Florida says the first group of migrant detainees have arrived at the new immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz." CBS News correspondent Shanelle Kaul has more.

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U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday (July 3) that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that he plans to hold a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. CBS News White House reporter Willie James Inman has more.

Trump speaks with Putin, plans call with Zelenskyy

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez reports on a lawsuit from lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia alleging he suffered “torture and mistreatment” after he was wrongfully deported and held in El Salvador’s notorious mega prison.

Tecoluca

Kilmar Abrego Garcia claims he was tortured in El Salvadoran prison

The Kremlin welcomed the development, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov claiming it proves Western arsenals are being depleted and predicting that less aid will hasten the end of the conflict.

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Two contractors employed by UG Solutions spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity as they were revealing their employers’ internal operations.

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Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke for hours on the House floor about potential impacts of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" that Republicans are looking to pass before July 4. Following debate, the House is set for a final vote on the massive budget bill.

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CBS News political contributor Caroline Polisi joins "CBS Mornings" to break down the jury's verdict in Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal trial and the judge's decision to deny bail for the music mogul ahead of his sentencing.

Manhattan

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Liverpool soccer player Diogo Jota has died aged 28, just weeks after marrying his childhood sweetheart. The footballer passed away in a car crash in northern Spain.

Madrid

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The Pentagon said that U.S. strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran's nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the U.S. military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.

Tehran

Iran Strikes

Iran nuclear program degraded by up to two years: Pentagon

Days before his 90th birthday, the Dalai Lama announced the Gaden Phodrang Trust, a non-profit he founded, will have the sole authority to recognize his future reincarnation, but China insists it will choose the successor of the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Lhasa

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The U.S. Congress inched towards approving President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, despite attempts by Democrats to stop it. The bill is Trump’s signature legislation which includes massive spending increases on the military and immigration enforcement while slashing social programs.

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Sean (Diddy) Combs was found guilty on prostitution-related charges, but was acquitted on more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking giving him a maximum sentence of 20 years. But the courtroom victory was subdued following a judge’s ruling to deny him bail.

New York

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President Trump says Israel has agreed to a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, but it remains unclear if Hamas will accept the terms. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Debora Patta has more.

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Bryan Kohberger changed his plea to guilty Wednesday for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students. CBS News national correspondent Carter Evans has more on the case.

Boise

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down a state abortion law that was adopted in 1849 in a 4-3 landmark decision. CBS News' Shanelle Kaul reports.

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Macron and Putin held regular discussions around the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Macron visiting Putin in Russia in February 2022, but dialogue eventually stalled.

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President Trump toured “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention center he teamed up with Ron DeSantis to build in the Everglades.

Everglades

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Jurors in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal criminal trial said they have reached a verdict on four of the five counts, but they cannot reach a verdict on Count 1, which is racketeering conspiracy. The judge has instructed the jury to keep deliberating. Deliberations will resume Wednesday (July 2).

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The U.S. Senate passed the Republicans' reconciliation bill on Tuesday (July 1) after more than 24 hours of marathon voting on amendments. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote.

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The new order does not rescind existing sanctions on ousted longtime President Bashar al-Assad, his top aides, officials and family members who are accused of having committed war crimes and human rights violations against Syrian civilians.

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Former criminology graduate student Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to killing four Idaho college students in 2022, a move that would spare him the death penalty under a deal with prosecutors, ABC News reported on Monday (June 30).

Moscow

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Thailand's Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from duty pending a case seeking her dismissal, adding to mounting pressure on a government fighting for survival on multiple fronts.

Bangkok

Thai court suspends PM from duty pending case seeking her dismissal

Israeli strikes killed at least 60 people across Gaza on June 30 in some of the heaviest attacks in weeks as Israeli officials were due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by U.S. President Donald Trump.