Alicia Malone
“9” director Shane Acker will bring [back] to the screen kiddie fave “Thomas the Tank Engine”.
Unlike the TV series and previous film, this will be the first fully-fledged live-action “Thomas” movie.
Weta Workshop and Mattel’s entertainment properties will be working together on, er, building Thomas and friends.
The script was written by Chris Viscardi & Will McRobb and ”Shrek the Third”’s Josh Klausner.
Acker told Deadline he wants to broaden the audience’s appeal beyond anklebiters.
“I’m a recent father, with a 20-month old daughter..We lead such busy lives in Hollywood, always running and hustling, but children tend to slow you down a bit and reconnect you with that inner world. It reinvents your imagination, seeing things through a child’s eyes It was transformative for me and that is what inspired me about the possibilities here. The tale will revolve around a pre-teen boy who has drifted apart from his father. The son is introduced into this world of Sodor, a place his father visited as a child but can’t remember. There is a bonding experience.”
