Shane Acker to direct 'Thomas the Tank Engine'

Plans to bring Thomas the Tank Engine to the big screen are still in full swing, and HIT Entertainment is bringing Shane Acker on board to direct the family adventure, according to Deadline. Acker most recently directed the mediocre animated flick "9."

The movie, which will be a live-action version, is primarily set in Sodor, land of talking trains. Acker said, "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."

'9' web reviews

Shane Acker's animated adventure "9" debuted in theaters this week, and it features the voice of Elijah Wood as a puppet-like being trying to survive in a world where machines won a nasty battle against humans. Here is what some of the Web's critics have to say about the flick:

• William Goss @Cinematical: "For the most part, '9' makes a gorgeous and often thrilling case for its own feature-length existence..."

• CinemaBlend's Josh Tyler: "Though lacking in scale the movie’s look is consistently impressive and the story, though stretched too thin, is fairly creative."

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'9' tops Wednesday box office with $3M

Shane Acker's animated adventure "9" delivered a solid start at the North American box office Wednesday with a decent estimated gross of $3.1 million from ticket sales at only 1,653 locations.

Released by Focus Features, "9" is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which humanity has lost a fierce battle against an army of machines. It's up to a group of puppet-like “stitchpunk” beings to survive in dangerous conditions.

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Review: “9”

Seen on: August 28, 2009

The players: Director: Shane Acker, Writer: Pamela Pettler, Cast: Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly

Facts of interest: "9" was co-produced in Luxembourg, my home country. Neat!

The plot: In a world in which humanity was defeated in a battle against machines, a rag doll named 9 sets out on a mission to save what is left on the planet.

 Our quick thoughts: Director Shane Acker took an acclaimed short film he created and developed it into a big-screen adventure with the support of producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. Sounds neat, doesn’t it? The result is Focus Features’ “9,” a decent animated action film that boasts incredibly intriguing visuals but fails to impress in the story department.

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Fantastic trailer for '9' finally debuts online!

Have you already seen the beautiful trailer for Shane Acker's upcoming animated movie "9"? If not, check it out after the jump.

Based on his own short film, Acker's film is set in a parallel world, in which a post-apocalyptic nightmare threatens humanity's legacy. Now it's up to a race of oppressed rag dolls to fight for survival.

"9" is produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, and the film features the voices of Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and John C. Reilly.

As you can see below, the animation looks gorgeous and highly imaginative. It also looks a little bit like an exciting, explosive adventure game you would want to play on your Playstation 3.

Watch out for "9" in theaters Sept. 9, 2009.

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