F. Murray Abraham has joined ‘How To Train Your Dragon 3’.
The 78-year-old ‘Scarface’ actor will be lending his voice to the villain Grimmel, who is reportedly set to cause problems for the hero of the franchise Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his Night Fury dragon Toothless.
Chris deFaria, head of DreamWorks Animation Film Group, said: "We are thrilled that F. Murray Abraham has joined our ‘How To Train Your Dragon 3’ cast as the villainous Grimmel. This character bring a captivating new storyline to the culmination of our trilogy.
"There is a gentlemanly calm to this sinister role, one that dovetails beautifully with this iconic actor’s immense range and talents."
‘How To Train Your Dragon 3’ – which is set to be helmed by Dean DeBlois – was previously due to be released this year, before being changed to 2017 and more recently, to 2018.
In 2015, DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg said the biggest issue with scheduling times was due to the restructuring of DreamWorks – the movie production company – and conceded that the three-films-a-year plan was very ambitious.
The original ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ came to screens in 2010 and was a considerable success.
The movie introduced Hiccup, a misfit teenager who studies at a dragon-fighting school – and he tries to prove that he is a true Viking.
‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’, meanwhile, was released in 2014 and saw Hiccup off on another adventure to discover unexplored lands.
Abraham will be joining Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, America Ferrara and Kit Harington – who have already lent their voices to characters in the hit franchise.
‘How To Train Your Dragon 3’ is now slated to be released in March 2019.