Tale of the Tank Engine

Tale of the Tank Engine (titled onscreen as Tale of the Tank Engine; and the son of the man who created it) is an epic historical fantasy film directed by Shane Acker. The film is notable for being in development hell for thirteen years until being revived and financed through crowd-funding by the TTTE Community in 2023. It is also known for being based on a Mattel own property where Mattel had no involvement with the production. The movie is loosely based on the biography The Thomas The Tank Engine Man: The Life Of Reverend W. Awdry by Brian Sibley, which appears in the film, but the film has an original story that has no correlation with the original source, since the film is about Reverend W. Awdry's son, Christopher Awdry. The film stars Lucas Hedges in a lead role as writer and rail-enthusiast Christopher Awdry. Nick Frost, Olivia Colman, Jude Law, and Daniel Day-Lewis, who comes out of retirement, also make appearances in supporting roles. Described as a "spiritual clash of organic and mechanical life", the film is about the many chapters of Christopher Awdry's relationship with his father, WIlbert Awdry, as he is introduced to the Island of Sodor, a place where his father went as a child, but has since distanced himself from its people and locomotives.

After the commercial failure of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, another movie based on Thomas The Tank Engine would become impossible to produce, with the television series seeing creative differences in terms of presentation and downgrade to more of a pre-school audience. In 2009, plans for another film based on Thomas the Tank Engine would begin pre-production under the title The Adventures of Thomas, with HiT Entertainment backing up the project. Production would eventually go into limbo sometime around 2010, with the release date changing from 2010 to 2011, then to 2012. It was eventually planned for a 2014-2015 release, but would be delayed once again without a release date, leaving fans to speculate the film to be cancelled. It would be until Shane Acker, the director of the film, revealed that the film was cancelled after being pushed back several times following Mattel's acquisition of HIT Entertainment, and Mattel doesn't want to take Thomas into a more serious direction. Around late 2020, Mattel announced a new film based on Thomas and Friends that would be directed by Marc Forster. Executive producer for the film, Robbie Brenner, has stated that Thomas' story in the film will be told in a "modern and unexpected way." In 2023, after the commercial success of Greta Gerwig's Barbie, Mattel began plans to adapt other properties into movies. One of those being Marc Forster's Thomas movie which Mattel would be the financial backer of the film, thus bringing Shane Acker's original film back into the conversation. In late 2023, Marc Forster announced his collaboration with Shane Acker in reviving the project, with principle photography beginning in Ireland on January of 2024 after gaining the green light for production to begin without Mattel's involvement. Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi wrote the screenplay in 2009, with rewrites from Marc Forster, Alyssa Hill, and Jesse Wigutow taking place in November of 2023. Now renamed to Tale of the Tank Engine, the film would become a rare instance where a major studio production is backed through crowd-funding, as it garnered support from various communities revolving around the Thomas and Friends brands. One of those communities being the Sodor Island Fansite, where users in the forums would become part of the production through means of donations, or working on-site. Some notable figures who helped out on the film included Nicholas Goodrich, and Brannon Carty, who previously directed An Unlikely Fandom.

Tale of the Tank Engine had its world premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival on September 16, 2025. It was eventually released in a limited run on December 12, 2025 in the British Isles, and was screened in traditional theaters and other premium formats such as IMAX. It then had its worldwide release on January 2, 2026. The film received mixed acclaim from critics and audiences.

Plot

 * “Dear Christopher,
 * Here is your friend Thomas the Tank Engine. He wanted to come out of his station yard and see the world. These stories tell you how he did it.
 * I hope you will like them because you helped me to make them.”
 * ― Your Loving Daddy
 * ― Your Loving Daddy

TBA

Cast

 * Lucas Hedges as Christopher Awdry (age 26)
 * Roman Griffin Davis as Christopher Awdry (age 16)
 * Archie Barnes as Christopher Awdry (age 8)
 * Gary Oldman as Christopher Awdry (age 43)
 * Christopher Awdry as himself


 * Nick Frost as Sir Charles Topham Hatt II
 * Jude Law as Alastair Morton
 * Olivia Colman as Britt Allcroft
 * Daniel Day-Lewis as Wilbert Awdry
 * Sam Clafin as Bob
 * George Mackay as Charlie Sand
 * Paul Bettany as Sidney Hever
 * Leo Henry as David Mitton
 * Kate Beckensale as Margeret Wales

Development
Around late 2023, talks about a possible revival of Shane Acker's The Adventures of Thomas with Mark Forster set to produce was going to enter production, after the financial success of Greta Gerwig's Barbie, another movie produced by Mattel, Inc. The original idea for the movie was to be about a pre-teen boy (who has drifted apart from his father) being introduced to the Island of Sodor, a place where his father went as a kid, but cannot remember. It would be until December of that year where production for the movie would begin without Mattel's involvement, with the exception of being a financial backer. It's announced that Shane Acker would become the director once again, and the movie would be about Christopher Awdry, mostly played by Lucas Hedges, and his father, Reverent W. Awdry, played by Daniel Day-Lewis.

Writing
According to Marc Forster, the movie doesn't follow a linear structure, rather relying on jumping from one period, then transitioning to another. "We wanted to show the life of the Awdry family by making it more of a riches to rag story. But, we figured out that it would turn each period into completely different parts that don't acknowledge the impact that each one has towards one another". The movie also utilizes non-continuity editing which in turn complements the screenplay written by Alyssa Hall and Jesse Wigutow. Forster obtained the rights to Brian Sibley's book, and while it's not an adaption of the book, it became the basis and main study for the events of Reverent Awdry integrated in the events of Christopher Awdry.

Filming
The film was shot on site throughout the British Isles. Most primarily in the Isle of Man, in Castletown. Other locations included St. Pancras Railway Station, the capital city of Douglas, Heuston Railway Station, and Sheringham. For the scenes involving Clearwater Features, it was filmed that the real life Shepperton Studios.

In 2024, reports emerged about shots being filmed in the Municipality of Muskoka, Canada.

Post-Production
In an interview with actor Paul Bettany, he mentions how editor Sebastian Jones and Shane Acker would bring actors in to give there insight on their characters point of view, as well as letting them edit some scenes to make their own character's introductions more personal.

Marketing
On March 8, 2024, in the midst of its secrecy, the official Nitrogen Animation YouTube channel released old test footage of the E2 Thomas model that were previously leaked in early 2021. Two months later, footage of the Island of Sodor produced by NItrogen were shown, with a more updated render. A teaser trailer was released on October 27, 2024, a year before its world premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, where the film was reported to be 45% completed.

Book Sales
In the lead up of the film, publication of the original Railway Series books saw sales rising, causing Egmont Publishing to reprint every book from both the tenures of Wilbert and Christopher Awdry. According to writer Andrew Brenner, circulation of the best selling book, Thomas The Tank Engine, saw it reaching a total of 1.1 million copies, still cementing its record of best selling Railway Series book.

Festival Run
The film had its world premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival as the closing film on September 15, where it received mostly mixed reception. It was also screened in other festivals like BFI's London FIlm Festival and the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Box Office, Reception, and Accolades
During its limited run in 20 theaters, the film grossed a total of $600,000 domestically, and $210,000 in places like the United Kingdom and Ireland. Bringing a total of $810,000 during its limited run. When the film began its worldwide release in January 2, 2026 in 298 theaters, it amassed a total gross of $82,000,000 in North America, and $34,000,000 in its worldwide run. Bringing the total box office revenue to $116,810,000. When the film was nominated for numerous accolades, including Best Motion Picture - Drama at the 83rd Golden Globes, and Outstanding British Film at the 79th BAFTAs, its theatrical window was extended and screened in 100 theaters, bringing in a new total of $28,000,000 in North America and $23,190,000 in Europe, bring the total gross of $168,000,000, making the film a box office success. Some contributing countries of the international box office included Australia & New Zealand, Germany, Japan, and The Netherlands.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film was critically acclaimed with an approved score of 86%, with an average score of 8.1/10 based on 356 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "The film takes advantage at being both a fantasy and biopic, thus creating a clever character study that everyone would keep asking what would be next". Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 62 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, and PostTrak reported it received an average 4 out of 5 from viewers they surveyed, with 78% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Tale of the Tank Engine received three academy award nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound. It received two nominations for Best Original Score and Best Motion Picture - Drama at the 83rd Golden Globes. It also received five nominations for Outstanding British Film, Best Special Visual Effects, Best Production Design, Best Original Music, and Best Cinematography at the 79th BAFTAs. The most notable award it won was Best Film at the Independent Spirit Awards.