Timur Bekmambetov Jennifer Connelly Christopher Plummer Fred Tatasciore Danny Elfman (themes) Deborah Lurie (score) Relativity Media [ 1 ] Lux Animation [ 1 ] Tim Burton Productions September 9, 2009 ( 2009-09-09 ) United States [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Luxembourg [ 1 ] 9 is a 2009 animated science fiction film directed by Shane Acker and written by Pamela Pettler . It is based on Acker's 2005 short film 9 . Set in an alternate version of the 1940s, the film stars Elijah Wood as "9", a rag doll who awakens shortly after the end of humanity following the uprising of machines. John C. Reilly , Jennifer Connelly , Christopher Plummer , Crispin Glover , Martin Landau , and Fred Tatasciore voice supporting roles. 9 was released by Focus Features on September 9, 2009. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics and grossed $49 million on a $30 million budget. It received an Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures nomination at the 21st Producers Guild of America Awards . A scientist is commissioned by his government to create a highly intelligent robot in the name of peaceful progress, which the government then seizes and turns into the Fabrication Machine, an automaton that can construct an army of war machines. As the machines become corrupt and declare war on the humans, the scientist creates nine homunculus -like rag dolls via alchemy called "Stitchpunks", each labeled with a number, giving them portions of his own soul via a talisman . He dies upon completing the final Stitchpunk, 9. 9 awakens some time after the machines have destroyed all organic life on Earth and gone dormant. He ventures outside and meets 2, an elderly inventor, who finds him a working voice box. The last active machine, the Cat Beast, attacks the pair, abducts 2, and takes the talisman. One-eyed healer 5 rescues 9 and takes him to Sanctuary , the tower of an empty cathedral that is home to dogmatic leader 1, his burly bodyguard 8, and the eccentric fountain pen -fingered clairvoyant 6. Against 1's demands, 9 and 5 follow the Cat Beast to a factory and rescue 2. The Cat Beast attacks the trio, but 7 arrives and kills it. 9 curiously connects the talisman to the dormant Fabrication Machine, accidentally reviving it; it kills 2 by sucking out his soul, and the others barely manage to escape. 7 takes 9 and 5 to an abandoned library , where mute scholar twins 3 and 4 reveal the history of the war. 9 draws the symbols on the talisman, which 5 realizes match 6's drawings. 9 and 5 return to Sanctuary to investigate, where 1 reprimands them for endangering them all. The Machine begins assembling new robots, including the Winged Beast, which attacks and burns down Sanctuary. With 7's help, the Stitchpunks manage to destroy the Winged Beast using the engine of a crashed bomber and escape. Back at the library, 6, 3, and 4 search for information on the talisman. 1 warns them against this, and reveals that he intentionally sent 2 to his death, to the others' dismay. 7 attempts to attack 1, but is chastised. Meanwhile, the Machine uses 2's corpse as a hypnotic lure for its new "Seamstress" robot, which attacks the library. It fails to capture 1, but successfully captures 7 and 8. The other Stitchpunks return to the factory to save them, but 8's soul is absorbed by the machine. 9 goes in alone, saves 7, and destroys the Seamstress with a lure as a distraction. He and 7 escape as the other Stitchpunks blow up the factory, destroying nearly all of the machines. Believing the Machine to be destroyed, the remaining seven Stitchpunks have a short respite. The damaged but still-functional Machine emerges from the factory's ruins and absorbs 5's soul. Realizing that the deceased Stitchpunks' souls are still trapped inside the Machine, 6 implores the others not to destroy it. The Machine manages to capture 6, who orders 9 to go to the Scientist's workshop for answers before it sucks out his soul. At the workshop, 9 finds a holographic recorded message from the Scientist, revealing both the Machine's and Stitchpunks' origins and explaining how to use the talisman. Now knowing that the talisman can be used to transfer souls, 9 reunites with the surviving Stitchpunks, who are trying to destroy the Machine. He plans to sacrifice himself to the Machine, distracting it long enough for the others to retrieve the talisman. 1 redeems himself by pushing 9 out of the way, allowing the Machine to suck out his soul instead of 9's. 9 removes the talisman and sucks the captive Stitchpunks' souls out of the Machine, destroying it. Afterward, 9 uses the talisman to release the souls of 8, 6, 2, 5 and 1. 9, 7, 4 and 3 watch the freed souls fly up into the sky, causing it to rain . The raindrops contain tiny flecks of bacteria, bringing organic life back into the world. Elijah Wood as 9, the hopeful, heroic part of the Scientist's personality. John C. Reilly as 5, the gentle healer portion of the Scientist's personality. Jennifer Connelly as 7, the fighter portion of the Scientist's personality, and the only female of the group. Christopher Plummer as 1, the fearful and arrogant portion of the Scientist's personality. Crispin Glover as 6, the artistic and eccentric portion of the Scientist's personality. Fred Tatasciore as 8, the stolid and loyal portion of the Scientist's personality. Tatasciore also voices the radio announcer. Tatasciore also voices the radio announcer. Martin Landau as 2, the creative genius portion of the Scientist's personality. Alan Oppenheimer as the Scientist, the inventor of the Fabrication Machine, and later the nine Stitchpunks. Tom Kane as Chancellor Ferdinand, a dictator who was responsible for causing the Fabrication Machine to turn against humanity. Helen Wilson as a news reporter . The film soundtrack was released on August 31, 2009, in physical and digital formats, nine days before the film was released. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] It includes the themes created by Danny Elfman , Deborah Lurie 's film score, and " Welcome Home " by Coheed and Cambria . The latter song was used in two trailers for the film, with minor censoring for the full song in the soundtrack. Along with "Welcome Home", the teaser trailer also features an excerpt from "The Captain" by The Knife , which was also not included in the soundtrack. Other songs within the film that were not included in the soundtrack was the traditional "Dies Irae" chant, performed by Crispin Glover as part of the background score, and " Over the Rainbow ", the song from The Wizard of Oz and performed by Judy Garland . The song plays on a 78rpm phonograph record in a lighthearted scene, when the surviving Stitchpunks were momentarily celebrating the destruction of the factory. [ citation needed ] On December 25, 2008, a trailer was released on Apple.com that features The Knife 's "The Captain" and Coheed and Cambria 's " Welcome Home ". [ 8 ] 9 is the second animated feature film to be released by Focus Features , the first being Coraline , written and directed by Henry Selick and based on the book by Neil Gaiman . The trailer for 9 preceded Coraline when it was shown in theaters and released on DVD. A second trailer for 9 first appeared on G4 's Attack of the Show and was later shown before Land of the Lost . It is an extensive trailer which includes a bit of the background story behind the existence of the creations. In April 2009, the film's "Scientist" began making journal entries on a Facebook page called "9 Scientist", including essays about each of his nine creations. The "9 Scientist" Facebook page seemingly references events leading up to the release of the film. [ 9 ] A viral campaign promotional website for 9 was launched. It shed some light upon the background of the 9 world. [ 10 ] The trailer featured several machines: the Cat Beast, a cat-like ambush predator that appeared in the original short film (where it had a green eye, changed to a red eye in the feature film, along with some other changes); the Winged Beast, a pterosaur -like machine with movable blades in its mouth; the Seamstress, a hypnotic serpent that uses threads to restrain victims; Steel War Behemoths, large two-legged machines armed with a machine gun and poison gas mortars which can kill in a matter of seconds; the Fabrication Machine (previously known as B.R.A.I.N. – "Binary Reactive Artificially Intelligent Neurocircuit"), a large, cyclopean machine with many multi-jointed arms; and Seekers, aerial machines with searchlights. [ 8 ] Later trailers also reveal the existence of several small spider-like machines. [ citation needed ] Part of the film's marketing strategy was its release date of September 9, 2009 ("9/9/09"). [ citation needed ] Shortly before the film's release, Life released a mobile game adaptation titled 9: The Mobile Game for the iPhone and iPod Touch . [ 11 ] Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes , 9 has an overall approval rating of 57% based on 185 reviews and average rating of 5.90/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Although its story is perhaps too familiar and less complex than some might wish, 9 is visually spectacular, and director Shane Acker's attention to detail succeeds in drawing viewers into the film's universe." [ 12 ] On Metacritic , it holds a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [ 13 ] Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, contrasting it with the works of Hayao Miyazaki and saying that, " 9 is nevertheless worth seeing... [the visuals] are entrancing." [ 14 ] The general sentiment by critics is that the film is "long on imaginative design but less substantial in narrative". [ 15 ] Variety ' s Todd McCarthy says, "In the end, the picture's impact derives mostly from its design and assured execution." [ 16 ] The film underperformed at the box office . Its opening weekend landed it at No. 2 behind I Can Do Bad All By Myself with approximately $10,740,446 and $15,160,926 for its five-day opening. [ 17 ] The film grossed $48,559,999 worldwide. [ 5 ] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 29, 2009, three-and-a-half months after the film's theatrical release. [ 23 ] The DVD and Blu-ray contained special features such as the director Shane Acker's original 2005 short film of the same name, cast interviews, and commentary by the filmmakers. [ 24 ] Possible sequel I think there is definitely room. I mean, the way we end the film, there is a slight suggestion that it may be a new beginning. And I think we could continue the journey from where we left off and see how these creatures are existing in a world in which the natural environment is coming back and perhaps even threatening them in some way. Do they make the decision to not affect it, or do they try to affect it in some way? And do they still try to hold on to that humanity within them or do they recognize themselves at being machines too and go off on a different trajectory? So there's lots of idea that I think that we could play with and make another story out of. No plans for a sequel have been made, but possibilities were mentioned via the film's 2009 DVD commentary. Director Acker has also mentioned the possibility of a sequel being made because of the lack of darker animated films, claiming that everything is G- and PG-rated with little to no dark elements. In 2009 he said that he will continue to make darker animated films, either doing so with a sequel to 9 or original ideas for future films. [ 26 ] Before the theatrical release of the film, Acker and producer Tim Burton stated they were open for a sequel, depending on how well the film was received. [ 27 ] Since the film's home release, there have been no further mentions of a sequel, with Acker focusing on projects announced in 2011 ( The Adventures of Thomas ), 2012 ( Deep ), 2013 ( Beasts of Burden ) and other four projects aimed for older audiences of which have not been released, [ 28 ] [ 29 ] [ 30 ] until Crusoe , a comic science fiction short film was released in 2021. [ 31 ] Despite the silence from Acker, in January 2017, the Facebook profile of the character "the Scientist" was updated with a rather cryptic message. [ 32 ] The profile had been inactive since 2009, leading some to speculate the teasing of a sequel. [ citation needed ] List of American films of 2009 9 (2005 film) – The original short film on which 9 is based 1 2 3 4 5 " 9 (2009)" . British Film Institute . Retrieved February 1, 2026 . 1 2 " 9 " . AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Retrieved February 1, 2026 . ↑ " 9 (12A)" . British Board of Film Classification . Retrieved February 1, 2026 . ↑ " 9 " . Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved February 1, 2026 . 1 2 3 "9" . The Numbers . Nash Information Services, LLC . Retrieved February 1, 2026 . ↑ iTunes – Music – 9 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Danny Elfman & Deborah Lurie iTunes Retrieved September 17, 2014 ↑ 9: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on Amazon.com Amazon.com Retrieved September 17, 2014 1 2 "Apple – Trailers – 9" . Apple. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008 . Retrieved December 27, 2008 . ↑ " 9 Scientist Facebook Page" . facebook.com . Focus Features . Retrieved May 27, 2009 . ↑ " 9 Experiment Page" . 9experiment.com . Focus Features. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009 . Retrieved May 27, 2009 . ↑ Brandon, John (November 5, 2009). "9: The Mobile Game for iPhone" . Macworld . Retrieved July 5, 2018 . ↑ " 9 " . Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Archived from the original on November 14, 2009 . Retrieved December 12, 2018 . ↑ " 9 " . Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved November 19, 2009 . ↑ Ebert, Roger (September 9, 2009). "9" . Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on April 18, 2010 . Retrieved March 6, 2011 . ↑ Puig, Claudia (September 9, 2009). "9 Movie Reviews" . USA Today . Gannett Company . Retrieved September 1, 2009 . ↑ McCarthy, Todd (August 18, 2009). "9 Review" . Variety . Archived from the original on August 23, 2009 . Retrieved December 12, 2018 . ↑ "Domestic 2009 Weekend 37" . Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved February 1, 2026 . ↑ McNary, Dave (December 1, 2009). " 'Coraline' tops Annie nominations" . Variety . Retrieved July 5, 2018 . ↑ "Motion Picture Nominations for the 2010 PGA Awards Announced" . Producers Guild of America . Archived from the original on April 10, 2012 . Retrieved July 5, 2018 . ↑ Kilday, Gregg (January 18, 2010). " 'Avatar' leads Visual Effects Society noms" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 5, 2018 . ↑ "2009 WAFCA Awards" . Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association . Archived from the original on November 5, 2011 . Retrieved June 5, 2018 . ↑ "Golden Reel Award nominees announced" . The Los Angeles Times . January 22, 2010. Archived from the original on January 26, 2010 . Retrieved November 8, 2025 . ↑ "Home Cinema @ The Digital Fix – 9 (R1/US BD) in December" . Dvdtimes.co.uk . October 28, 2009 . Retrieved August 23, 2010 . ↑ Spurlin, Thomas (December 17, 2009). "Shane Acker's 9 (Blu-ray)" . DVD Talk . Retrieved July 5, 2018 . ↑ "Shane Acker reveals possible plot for a sequel to 9 " . joblo.com . The Arrow. August 23, 2009 . Retrieved January 16, 2013 . ↑ "Shane Acker talks possibility of a sequel to 9 " . firstshowing.net . Alex Billington. September 3, 2009 . Retrieved January 16, 2012 . ↑ "Shane Acker says he is open to a sequel to 9" . Cinema Blend . Perri Nemiroff. September 3, 2009. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011 . Retrieved February 21, 2012 . ↑ Arrant, Chris (August 6, 2012). "Director Shane Acker ("9"), Ireland's Brown Bag Films, Producer Gregory R. Little and Author J. Barton Mitchell Launch Animated Undersea Adventure Film "Deep" " . Cartoon Brew.com . Retrieved December 5, 2016 . ↑ Lesnick, Silas (February 20, 2013). "Shane Acker to Direct Beasts of Burden" . ComingSoon.net . Archived from the original on August 2, 2014 . Retrieved December 5, 2016 . ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 8, 2011). " '9' Helmer Shane Acker Boards Feature Based On The Thomas The Tank Engine Toys" . Deadline . Retrieved September 3, 2018 . ↑ "Crusoe" . RiverRun International Film Festival . March 11, 2021. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021 . Retrieved August 15, 2021 . ↑ "The light has faintly flickered on again beneath the ashes and I have begun the long awaited search for hope... I must find 9" . January 20, 2017 . Retrieved November 30, 2017 – via Facebook. [ non-primary source needed ] Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2013-04-26) 9 at the TCM Movie Database 9 at Box Office Mojo 9 at Rotten Tomatoes 9 at Metacritic How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) Abominable (2019) Trolls World Tour (2020) The Croods: A New Age (2020) Spirit Untamed (2021) The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) The Bad Guys (2022) Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023) Trolls Band Together (2023) Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) The Wild Robot (2024) The Bad Guys 2 (2025) Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie (2025) Forgotten Island (2026) CoComelon: The Movie (2027) Nico Bravo (2027) Despicable Me (2010) The Lorax (2012) Despicable Me 2 (2013) The Secret Life of Pets (2016) Despicable Me 3 (2017) The Grinch (2018)

The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) Migration (2023) Despicable Me 4 (2024) The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) Minions & Monsters (2026) Not Alone (2027) Curious George (2006) Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! (2009) Woody Woodpecker (2017) Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp (2024) Coraline (2009) ParaNorman (2012) The Boxtrolls (2014) Ratchet & Clank (2016) Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) Piece by Piece (2024) An American Tail (1986) The Land Before Time (1988) An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993) The Flintstones (1994) Babe: Pig in the City (1998) The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000) The Cat in the Hat (2003) Welcome to Marwen (2018) The Snow Queen (1959) Pinocchio in Outer Space (1965) Jetsons: The Movie (1990) The Abrafaxe – Under The Black Flag (2001) Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002) The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008) The Tale of Despereaux (2008) Moshi Monsters: The Movie (2013) Yellowbird (2014) Ethel & Ernest (2016) The Addams Family (2019) The Addams Family 2 (2021) Woody Woodpecker (since 1940) An American Tail (1986–91) Shrek (since 2001; overall) Spirit (2002–21; overall) VeggieTales (since 2003; overall) Curious George (2006–09) Kung Fu Panda (since 2008; overall) How to Train Your Dragon (since 2010; overall) Despicable Me (since 2010) Dr. Seuss (2012–18) The Croods (since 2013; overall) Lego (since 2014; overall) The Secret Life of Pets (since 2016) Trolls (since 2016; overall) Sing (since 2016) The Boss Baby (since 2017; overall) The Addams Family (2019–21) The Bad Guys (since 2022) Super Mario (since 2023) The Wild Robot (since 2024) Animation studios 2009 American animated films 2009 computer-animated films 2009 directorial debut films 2009 English-language films 2009 science fiction films Alternate history films American alternate history films American animated science fiction films Animated films set in Germany Animated films set in the 1940s Animated post-apocalyptic films Animated thriller films Animated World War II films Bazelevs Company films D-Box motion-enhanced films English-language Luxembourgian films English-language science fiction films Features based on short films Films produced by Tim Burton Films scored by Deborah Lurie Films set in Berlin Films with screenplays by Pamela Pettler Focus Features animated films Focus Features films Luxembourgian animated science fiction films Relativity Media animated films Relativity Media films Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Wikipedia references cleanup from January 2026 All articles needing references cleanup Use mdy dates from January 2026 IMDb ID (Cite Mojo) different from Wikidata The Numbers ID not in Wikidata Template film date with 1 release date Articles lacking reliable references from January 2026 All articles lacking reliable references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2026 All pages needing factual verification Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from January 2026 Commons category link from Wikidata Webarchive template wayback links Rotten Tomatoes ID same as Wikidata Rotten Tomatoes template using name parameter