TNT Orders Snowpiercer TV Pilot from Avatar 2 Writer

By Cameron Wade  |  November 21, 2016 | 1:50pm
Image via RADiUS/TWC
TV News Snowpiercer

2013’s Snowpiercer is one of the best and most thought-provoking action movies of the last few years, but unfortunately it didn’t get the widest release in theaters. Still, it cultivated quite a cult following thanks to video on demand and the internet, and now, according to Variety, TNT seems to be looking to capitalize on that cult following.

TNT has ordered a pilot for a Snowpiercer TV series from Tomorrow Studios with Josh Friedman as executive producer, writer and showrunner. Friedman isn’t a huge name, but he does have his sci-fi credentials. Friedman wrote Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, created and wrote Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, and is a co-writer with James Cameron on Avatar 2.

Snowpiercer’s director Bong Joon-Ho and producers Park Chan-wook, Lee Tae-hun and Dooho Choi are listed as executive producers on the pilot, but the level of their involvement isn’t clear.

Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT, said:

Snowpiercer has one of the most original concepts to hit the screen in the last decade, and it’s one that offers numerous opportunities for deeper exploration in a series format. We look forward to expanding TNT’s relationship with Tomorrow Studios and their take on a world where humanity is pushed to the extreme.

Snowpiercer is set on a speeding train that endlessly circles an impossibly cold wasteland of an Earth, so whether it’s a reboot, sequel or prequel, there are some big constraints on where and what the show can do. How Friedman and company can expand on the movie for a series without losing the simple but satisfying plot and contained and often claustrophobic vibe will have to be seen. Read our review of Snowpiercer here.

 
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