User:EquestriaGirlsFan2003/sandbox

The untitled Marc Forster Thomas & Friends film is an upcoming British-American live action animated family adventure film, directed by World War Z and Christopher Robin director Marc Forster, Based on the British children's book series The Railway Series by The Rev. W. Awdry, and its televised adaptation Thomas & Friends. It will be the second worldwide theatrical Thomas & Friends film after 2000's Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

According to Forster, "Thomas has been a personal favorite of mine since childhood... I couldn’t be more excited to be working with Robbie and the entire team at Mattel, and embarking on this beautiful journey with such a timeless property."

Plot
Executive producer Robbie Brenner has stated that Thomas' story in the film will be told in a "modern and unexpected way."

Background
The first theatrical Thomas film Thomas and the Magic Railroad released in 2000 was a critical and commercial failure, Because of this, Thomas & Friends series creator Britt Allcroft was forced to resign from her company The Britt Allcroft Company in September 2000 and her company was renamed to Gullane Entertainment. HiT Entertainment acquired the company two years later, including the television rights to Thomas & Friends.



Before the announcment of Forster's Thomas film, previous attempts had been made to make a second worldwide theatrical Thomas film. The first was in 2000, when it was reported that Destination Films began development on a sequel to Thomas and Magic Railroad, but it was quietly cancelled due to the film's failure. The Adventures of Thomas was another attempt, announced on June 8, 2011, with 9 director Shane Acker directing, with Weta Digital designing the film's visual effects. but nothing new about the project has been announced as of 2018.

Announcement
In October 6, 2020, Mattel announced that Marc Forster would be directing an upcoming four quadrant film based on Thomas & Friends in a new storytelling method not used prior in the franchise.