Thomas the Tank Engine, who first appeared in The Railway Series books back in 1946, is going to be appearing in a live-action film for the first time, under Shane Acker, director of the Tim Burton-produced 2009 film, 9, Deadline report.

Thomas and his friends have been on our television screens since way back in 1984, and are still running today, and they’ve been the top-selling toys for pre-school children on both sides of the Atlantic for a decade.

Naturally, giving the director’s job to Acker will come as quite a bit of a surprise to some, given that his first feature film was set in a post-apocalyptic world. Acker himself, however, has said that he plans to open up the film’s audience to appeal to an older age as well, and has said how becoming a father has opened up his eyes to new possibilities in his filmmaking career:

“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.”

The screenplay has been written by Josh Klausner (Shrek Forever After, Date Night), and Chris Viscardi and Will McRobb (who both worked together on Alvin and the Chipmunks live-action film). Joining the creative team for the film will be Mattel, the famous and world’s largest toy company, and Weta Workshop, the special effects company Peter Jackson is involved with, who have been part of the special effects for all three The Lord of the Rings, as well as Avatar and District 9. So the team helping to translate the toys into a live-action feature will have plenty of experience under their belts. Whilst I personally can’t imagine what the trains are going to look like for Thomas’ latest live-action adventure, I feel no shame in admitting that I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

The Hollywood Reporter announced today that Josh Klausner, co-writer of Shrek the Third and writer of next year’s comedy Date Night, is about to start work on adapting the novel The Ten Best Days Of My Life, by Adena Halpern. The story concerns a woman who has to win a place in the top level of heaven by recounting the titular ten days.

Amy Adams, most recently seen in Julie and Julia and next month’s Moonlight Serenade, is set to star and produce. Directing and co-producing will be Shawn Levy, best known for Night at the Museum 1 and 2, the latter of which featured Adams.

Levy also directed the afore-mentioned Fox movie Date Night, closing the loop nicely. Read THR’s article here.

Bazmann

Great news for kids young and old – one of the most treasured childhood institutions is coming to the big screen. Hollywood Reporter (via Movieweb) have news that Thomas the Tank Engine will be heading to the big screen in Spring of 2011.

The film will be based on the Thomas and Friends world created by the Rev. W. Awdry, cherished by generations of children who fell in love with the very British world of Thomas, Percy, Annie and Clarabel. HIT Entertainment have signed up Shrek the Third screenwriter Josh Klausner to bring the worl to life in ‘a thrilling, big, modern adventure movie’.

Not to rain on this particularly pretty parade but Shrek the Third didn’t wow many audiences and Klausner (whose other writing credits include the next Shrek film) will have to embody the perculiarities and sensibility of the Thomas world rather than mimic it to make the film a success.

The film will tie in with the 65th anniversary of the little blue train and will be a mixture of CG and live action. We’ll keep our funnels peeled for more developments.

(And it has to be better than this…)