Thomas and The Magic Railroad (2019)

Thomas and the Magic Railroad (also known as Thomas the Tank Engine: The Magic Railroad in the United Kingdom and Germany) is a 2019 British/American 3D live-action/CGI animated family comedy adventure fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and Britt Allcroft based on three titled The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry, on the television series of the character from the same name and Shining Time Station by Britt Allcroft.

The film is a remake of the 2000 original film of the same name by the same director who created the film named Britt Allcroft, but it was a box-office bomb and a critical failure from critics and the fandom of the book and the show for the plot that was changed from the original cut, terrible acting, and the editing which had made the editor shortened the time of the main character and removed the true villain when it released on 2000, which in the 2019 version, it has all the characters like P.T. Boomer, Tasha and even George from the film and not been edited from before along with the help of Robert Zemeckis.

It was produced by ImageMovers, Legendary Pictures, and HiT Entertainment, presented in association with the Isle of Man Film Commission, and distributed by Universal Pictures in US prints and along with Sony Pictures Entertainment (who originally known as Destination Films also created the 2000 film) in US and international prints.

The film was a box office success and it received critical acclaim, with critics praising the faithfulness to the 2000 film's original director's cut, the visual effects, the CGI animation on the trains, splendid acting, well-developed characters, and the plot along with the performance of Nicolas Cage as P.T. Boomer. The film also become the fourth highest grossing film and won eight Academy Awards and received eight Academy Award nominations. At the UK, the film had won three BAFTA Film Awards and also got one BAFTA nomination.

Plot
The film begins with a female narrator telling the story on the Island of Sodor, where it was populated by talking trains, which the only one here was Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas is a really useful engine who is very kind to his friends. A few seconds later, Thomas met Gordon at Wellsworth Station, telling him that Sir Topham Hatt was gone for a holiday. But then, Diesel 10 rudely pass both Thomas and Gordon, which means that Diesel 10 was sent to the Island of Sodor by Sir Topham Hatt for helping, but he was acting like he was bullying any engines.

Thomas and The Magic Railroad (2019)/Gallery

Live-action actors
There are some cameo appearances in the film like:
 * Ariel Winter as Lily Stone, the main protagonist and the granddaughter of Burnett Stone. She lives in the city with her mother. With the help of her grandpa, Patch and Thomas, they helped restore Lady to her former glory and returned the magic to the Magic Railroad.
 * Anne Hathaway as Adult Lily, the narrator of the film.
 * Owen Wilson as Burnett Stone, the tetartagonist who is Lady's caretaker on his workshop at Muffle Mountain. Long ago, he only shared the secret of Lady with Tasha, his childhood friend.
 * Josh Hutcherson as Teenage Burnett
 * Max Charles as Young Burnett
 * Alec Baldwin as Mr. Conductor, the deuteragonist of the film and a 20-centimetre tall conductor who narrated the television series episodes that appeared in Shining Time Station.
 * David Tennant as Mr. Conductor, Junior, Mr. Conductor's cousin. Like his cousin, he is at a regular height on Sodor and the Magic Railroad - anywhere else, he shrinks to a height of 24 centimetres (ten inches).
 * AnnaSophia Robb as Tasha
 * Scarlett Estevez as Young Tasha
 * Nicolas Cage as P.T. Boomer, Pete Tiberius Boomer is the main antagonist who wants to get revenge on Burnett Stone for marrying Tasha. Boomer wants to destroy Lady along with Diesel 10, so they can take over the whole Thomas & Friends universe.
 * Scott McCord as Young Boomer
 * Owen Wilder as Patch
 * Ewan McGregor as Adult Patch
 * Jennifer Lawrence as Stacy Jones
 * Jeff Bridges as Billy Twofeathers
 * Drew Barrymore as Mrs. Bethany Stone
 * George Clooney as Sir Topham Hatt
 * Hayden Rolence as Burnett Stone, Jr.
 * Don Stanton and Dan Stanton as Thomas's Fireman and Driver
 * Alexander Gould as Newspaper Delivery Boy
 * John Bellis as Shining Time Firefighter
 * Robert Zemeckis as Himself (He appears in a mid-credits scene along with Britt Allcroft to tell the audience that he and Britt hoped the audience enjoyed the movie)
 * Britt Allcroft as Herself (She appears in a mid-credits scene along with Robert Zemeckis to tell the audience that she and Zemeckis hoped the audience enjoyed the movie)
 * Ringo Starr as Storyteller (He appears in a scene where he tell stories about Thomas and his friends in the Island of Sodor to the children)
 * Doug Walker as Himself (He makes a cameo appearance when he was late for his train)

Steam Engines

 * USA Actor: Joseph May as Thomas (American Release of The Movie), A main Protagonist
 * UK Actor: John Hasler as Thomas (International Release of The Movie) and Rheneas
 * USA Actor: William Hope as Edward and Toby (American Release of The Movie)
 * Keith Wickham As Edward (International Release of The Movie)
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy (American Release of The Movie)
 * Idina Menzel as Lady
 * Kerry Shale as Gordon & Henry
 * Rob Rackstraw as James and Toby (International Release of the Movie)
 * Keith Wickham as Skarloey and Sir Handel
 * Steven Kynman as Peter Sam and Duck
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy (International Release of The Movie)

Diesels

 * Teresa Gallagher as Mavis
 * Matt Wilkinson as Diesel 10 and Rusty, Diesel 10 is the secondary antagonist who was been hired by Sir Topham Hatt but he have an aggressive behavior and he was going to destroy Lady, Rusty is an friend of Thomas.
 * Richard Kind as Splatter and Dodge
 * Kerry Shale as Diesel

Others
Characters That Makes Cameos that Don't Speak:
 * Keith Wickham as Bertie the Bus
 * Kerry Shale as Harold the Helicopter
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie and Clarabel
 * Tom Hanks as George the Steamroller, Tumbleweed & Boco
 * Glenn Wrage as Cranky the Crane
 * Christopher Ragland, Tom Kenny, Patrick Warburton, Jack Black, and Will Ferrell as Troublesome Trucks
 * Tom Kenny as The Bluebird, Lily's inanimate toy bluebird who came to life as a CGI animated talking bluebird by Burnett Stone and Lily Stone using the magical gold dust on that bluebird.
 * John Hasler as Ten Cents (Cameo)
 * Roger Rabbit
 * Jessica Rabbit
 * Benny the Cab
 * Marty Mcfly
 * Hero Boy (Chris) (The Polar Express) As a Man

Development
In 2003, 3 years after the original film became a box-office failure, Britt Allcroft, creator of Thomas & Friends, has been resigned from her original company which was now known as "Gullane Entertainment". After HiT Entertainment took control on Thomas & Friends, HiT revealed that its theatrical division would be piloted by a "Thomas" film. Originally targeted for late-2010 release, in September 2009 this was revised to "Spring 2011".

As of January 2011, the release date had been pushed back further to 2012 and the name of the production had still not been announced. The initial draft of the script was written by Josh Klausner who has also said that the film will be set around the times of World War II, Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi also helped write the script. On 8 June 2011, Deadline announced that 9 director Shane Acker will direct the live-action adaptation of Thomas the Tank Engine, with Weta Digital designing the film's visual effects.

Since then, no actual production has been announced, until Robert Zemeckis came in and remake the original "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" film, along with Britt Allcroft, to bring in new actors to play the characters from the original "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" film (except Alec Baldwin, in which he will reprise his role as Mr. Conductor), announce the film on November 25th 2016, new voice actors to play the animated Thomas & Friends characters, video editing and restoration, audio mastering, mixing, recording, and editing, CGI animation for the "Island of Sodor" segments, blue-screen and green-screen effects for the "Island of Sodor" segments, new visual effects, and some brand new music.

Casting
While the film is on development, Robert Zemeckis hired Alec Baldwin who previously played as Mr. Conductor in the original 2000 film, so Baldwin agreed to reprise his role.

Filming
It was Filmed in New Jersey in The Live Action Scenes, Because a Red Station was There that Looks like Shining Time Station https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historic_train_station_building,_Red_Bank,_NJ.jpg

Animation
The Animation From "Big World Big Adventures" (2018) Was Used (Because It was Shiny and Looking Colorful), But the Movements in Most Scenes are a Little More Smoother and More Realistic.

Visual Effects
"Industrial Light and Magic" Made the Effects for "The Magic Railroad" (Railroad) and Magic Sparks in Every Scene that Involves Sparks.

Music
In June 19 2017, Randy Newman was Picked to Score this Film, But He Did not Have Time, Since He Had to Score "Toy Story 4" (2019), So, In November 16 2017, Alan Silvestri Decided that He Can Score the Movie Instead of Randy Newman, Alan Silvestri Started Working on It on April 16 2018 and finished on September 18 2018.

Release
Thomas and the Magic Railroad is set to release into theaters on February 12, 2019 in America.

Thomas and the Magic Railroad will also be releasing on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on the June 23rd 2019.

Animated shorts
The 2019 remake of "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" has four computer-animated shorts which was the recreation of well-known episodes from the original television series like Thomas and Bertie, Thomas Goes Fishing, Thomas and Gordon and Down the Mine by HiT Entertainment in theatrical releases and on DVD and Blu-ray.

Marketing
About a few weeks later after the film's release, Bachmann Industries released a model of Shining Time Station and even the Island of Sodor along with train models of Thomas, Lady, and Diesel 10 and some human models of Burnett Stone, Lily, Mr. Conductor, and P.T. Boomer.

Home media
[When the film is done development]

Soundtrack

 * Main article: Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2019 film)/Soundtrack
 * (Release on February 13th 2019)

Broadway musical
One year after the movie's release, the film will be adapted into a Broadway musical based on the movie titled Thomas and the Magic Railroad: The Musical.
 * Main article: Thomas and the Magic Railroad: The Musical

Possible 4-D Experience
After the Box office success & Awards, To celebrate 75 Years of "Thomas & Friends", Britt Allcroft had an idea for a 4-D Experience of the film set for a release from November 26 2020 to December 24th 2020, The 4-D Experience might be announced between February 22nd or March 20th 2019

Box office
[When the film is done development]

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 99% approval rating with an average rating of 9/10 based on 260 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "An old timer film that it was very bad on 2000 so now it was back on the rail to make it better." On Metacritic, the film achieved an average score of 97 out of 100 based on 39 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim".

CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A-" grade. Some of the critics and moviegoers had praised Nicolas Cage's performance of the character Boomer, The New York Times reviewed his performance "When the infamous actor used to make an appearance in any movie like The Wicker Man until it has been flopped, but his performance that he did was the main antagonist P.T. Boomer in the remake from the original 2000 film Thomas and the Magic Railroad where Boomer is very envious that he has nothing to get on his way, which is the most great performance I have ever seen".

It Had a 8.3/10 on IMDB

IGN game the film a grade of 9.8/10 (Amazing).

[More coming soon!]

Planned Sequel
On November 16 2018, A sequel was planned by Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures & Columbia Pictures, It will most likely happen

Trivia

 * This film has been used on the 2000 film that it was edited because this film was too scary for young audiences which the true main villain P.T. Boomer was cut, so in the 2019 film it still has P.T. Boomer. This is likely of the film is rated PG instead of the G rating the original 2000 version had.
 * It also has George in the film which in the 2000 film he's omitted.
 * Plus the other engines from the television series in the story.
 * This is the second theatrical Thomas the Tank Engine film ever created.
 * Trailer Songs: "I'm Blue" by Eiffel 65.
 * Randy Newman Was Gonna Compose this Film, But He Had to Compose "Toy Story 4", So Alan Silvestri scored the movie.
 * This film runs 1 hour and 50 minutes.
 * The bouncing from "Journey Beyond Sodor" will not be in this movie.
 * The Wilhelm Scream will Appear in this Movie.
 * The Main Protagonists are Thomas and Lily Stone
 * The First Teaser will Be Released on Some Screenings of "Incredibles 2" (2018)
 * DVD/Blu Ray/3D Blu Ray Release: June 23 2019
 * This film marks the most successful film of:
 * The most successful Universal/Sony/Columbia animated movie
 * The most successful 2010s animated movie
 * The most successful Warner Bros. live action movie
 * The most successful Robert Zemeckis animated/ImageMovers film
 * The soundtrack company for this movie: Watertower Music