Bong Joon-ho’s “Snowpiercer” will be adapted for the small screen, Variety has learned. TNT has ordered a pilot for a “Snowpiercer” series, based on the 2014 film, from Tomorrow Studios. Josh Friedman will serve as executive producer and writer-showrunner.
The film, which won heaps of critical acclaim, imagines a world in which what remains of humanity lives aboard a train that endlessly circles a frozen Earth, with a brutal caste system enforced through which car a person inhabits. “‘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,” said Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT. “We look forward to expanding TNT’s relationship with Tomorrow Studios and their take on a world where humanity is pushed to the extreme.”
This is the third project TNT has ordered from Tomorrow Studios, which is headed up by CEO Marty Adelstein and president Becky Clements. Tomorrow Studios is behind the currently airing “Good Behavior,” starring Michelle Dockery, and the recently ordered “Let the Right One In” adaptation that is a co-production between Tomorrow and Turner’s Studio T.
Executive producers for TNT’s “Snowpiercer” project are Friedman, Adelstein, Clements, Bong, Park Chan-wook, Lee Tae-hun, and Dooho Choi, along with CJ Entertainment.
The 2014 Chris Evans-starrer was held up as a model for new distribution methods in indie film, earning $3.8 million in VOD sales in just its first two weeks available — compared to $3.9 million over five weeks in theaters.
