The popular animated franchise, Thomas & Friends, is all set to be converted into a feature film.

Hollywood filmmaker Marc Forster will direct the film, reports variety.com. Forster's repertoire includes entertainers as varied as "Finding Neverland", "Quantum Of Solace", "The Kite Runner" and "World War Z".

The animated TV series "Thomas & Friends" is now in its 24th season. Based on The Railway Series of books by Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, the series follows the adventures of a group of locomotives and other vehicles in the fictional Island of Sodor.