Spyro the Dragon (film)

Spyro the Dragon is an upcoming American fantasy action-adventure film based on the Spyro the Dragon video game series distributed by Universal Pictures. It is directed and produced by Steven Spielberg (the director of Jurassic Park) and co-produced by Jon Fraveau and Robert Zemeckis. The film stars Elijah Wood and Christina Ricci reprising their roles as Spyro and Cynder respectively, and an original ensemble cast including Emma Watson, Dylan O'Brien, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Michael Shannon, Anthony Mackie, Idris Elba, Seth Rogen, Mark Ruffalo,, Liev Schreiber, Sam Neill, Bonnie Hunt, and Jeremy Irons.

Synopsis
Spyro is an young purple dragon living in secret with the Lockwoods, a family of human farmers who had found and kept his egg and raised him as their own. But when nation conqueror Kron leads an army of Outlanders to enslave both humans and dragons hiding on Avalon, the hidden Dragon World where Spyro was born from, the young dragon must do his best to protect his family and save the world. Along the way, Spyro also encounters Cynder, an young dragoness who is seeking her own place in the world and helps him in his objective.

Main Cast

 * Elijah Wood as Spyro, a compassionate young purple dragon with incredible magical powers who is raised by the Lockwoods. Wood reprises his role from The Legend of Spyro trilogy and provided voice and motion capture for the character.
 * Christina Ricci as Cynder, Spyro's love interest and a shy young indigo dragoness seeking her place in the world. Ricci reprises her role from The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon and provided voice and motion capture for the character.
 * Emma Watson as Gwen Lockwood, a young farmer and college student who has been Spyro's closest human friend since he was a hatchling.
 * Alexandra Rachael Rabe plays an younger Gwen in the film's opening.
 * Dylan O'Brien as Justin Stone, Gwen's boyfriend and one of the few humans aware that Spyro lives with the Lockwoods.
 * Robert Downey Jr. as Mack Lockwood, Gwen's father and the patriarch of the Lockwood family who is a retired U.S. soldier.
 * Marisa Tomei as Hope Lockwood, Gwen's mother and the matriarch of the Lockwood family.
 * Michael Shannon as Kron, the tyrannical general and ruler of the Outlanders who seeks to conquer both Avalon and the human world by any means.
 * Anthony Mackie as Rodney Washington, the Lockwoods' neighbor and a good friend to Spyro who is an expert aviator.
 * Idris Elba as Hunter, an anthropomorphic male cheetah from Avalon and a master archer who trains Spyro and serves as the captain of the king's army. Elba provides voice and motion capture for the character.
 * Seth Rogen as Sparx, an anthropomorphic golden dragonfly from Avalon who meets and befriends Spyro. Rogen provides voice and motion capture for the character.
 * Mark Ruffalo as Troy Donovan, Gwen's former high school history teacher who carries potential knowledge about Avalon. He is one of the few humans aware that Spyro lives with the Lockwoods.
 * as Henry Ross, a commander in the U.S. army who is suspicious of the existance of dragons in Avalon. He and the U.S. army are at war with the forces of Kron.
 * Liev Schreiber as Malefor the Dark Master, an ancient tyrannical dragon and a powerful figure of Dark Magic who was sealed away for centuries in the underground of Avalon and seeks revenge on both humankind and the dragons who betrayed him. Schreiber provided the character's voice while stood in for the motion capture of Malefor.
 * Sam Neill as Vulcan, a powerful red dragon and the king of the dragons of Avalon. Neill provided the character's voice while Ray Park stood in for the motion capture.
 * Bonnie Hunt as Ophelia, Vulcan's mate, a green dragoness and the queen of the dragons of Avalon. Hunt provided the character's voice while stood in for the motion capture.
 * as Marin, a deceased cyan dragoness and Spyro's biological mother. She appears in the film's prologue and later appears as a spirit in the dreams and visions of both Spyro and the Lockwoods. Kidman provides voice and motion capture for the character.
 * Jeremy Irons as Frank Lockwood, Gwen's paternal grandfather and Spyro's mentor.

Supporting Cast

 * Lacey Chabert as Phoebe, Cynder's closest friend, an young silver dragoness, the daughter of Vulcan and Ophelia and the princess of the dragons of Avalon. Chabert provided voice and motion capture for the character.
 * as Hermes, a grey dragon who serves as the king's majordomo and informant. Benson provided voice and motion capture for the character.
 * Caitlyn Taylor Love as Carol Johnson, Professor Donovan's most high-ranking student.
 * Jon Favreau as Ray, Sparx's older brother and Hunter's sidekick. Favreau provideds voice and motion capture for the character.
 * Wayne Knight as Vic Green, Ross's clumsy right hand man and informant.
 * Wayne Knight as Vic Green, Ross's clumsy right hand man and informant.
 * Wayne Knight as Vic Green, Ross's clumsy right hand man and informant.
 * Wayne Knight as Vic Green, Ross's clumsy right hand man and informant.

Cameos

 * appears as one of Professor Donovan's fellow teachers.

The Legend of Spyro Trilogy Differences
The film has notable elements of the The Legend of Spyro trilogy games, such as the presences of Cynder and Malefor, but also with some differences:
 * The trilogy did not integrate (or at least confirm) the presence and existence of humans, but the film does.
 * Still as in the trilogy (as first seen in A New Beginning), Spyro's egg was found floating in a river after it was saved from being destroyed during an issuing conflict in the dragons' realm. However, unlike in the trilogy, where Spyro is raised by Sparx's family of dragonflies, Spyro is raised by a family of human farmers.
 * Unlike in the trilogy, where Cynder was corrupted by Malefor's forces to become his vicious slave, Cynder has no history or past with Malefor. So, she is not corrupted by him.
 * Plus, her only traditional elemental ability from the game integrated in the film is Wind. Poison, Fear and Shadow are replaced for Blue Fire, Void (which allows her to create teleportation portals) and Crystal.
 * The Elemental Guardians from the trilogy (Ignitus, Cyril, Volteer and Terrador) do not appear in the film, although King Vulcan bares visual resemblance to Ignitus.
 * In the trilogy, Sparx knows Spyro since they were both hatchlings. In the film, Sparx meets and befriends Spyro in the beginning of the latter's journey.

Taglines

 * From the Makers of "Jurassic Park"...

Release
The theatrical release was accompanied with the short live-action/computer-animated film Woody at the Next Level, also distributed by Universal Pictures.