TNT Parts Ways With ‘Snowpiercer’ Showrunner Josh Friedman (EXCLUSIVE)

Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock

TNT has parted ways with Josh Friedman, the showrunner of the TV adaptation of “Snowpiercer,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Friedman was an executive producer on the project and wrote the pilot, which was shot last year. “Snowpiercer” was ordered to series by TNT earlier this month. A source close to the network cited creative differences as the reason.

The series, based on the 2014 Bong Joon Ho film, takes place seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland and centers on a small band of people who inhabit a gigantic, perpetually moving train that circles the globe. Jennifer Connelly stars as Melanie Cavill, an important first-class passenger and leader who is fascinated by the less fortunate riders on the train. The “Snowpiercer” cast also includes Daveed Diggs, Mickey Sumner, Susan Park, Benjamin Haigh, Sasha Frolova, Katie McGuinness, Alison Wright, Annalise Basso, Sam Otto, Roberto Urbina, Sheila Vand and Lena Hall.

Friedman had a great deal of experience adapting genre properties for TV: He was the showrunner of the 2008-2009 Fox drama “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles” and an executive producer of NBC’s “Emerald City.” His film credits include “Avatar 2” and “War of the Worlds.”

“Snowpiercer” is a co-production of Tomorrow Studios and Turner’s Studio T, along with CJ Entertainment. The pilot was directed by Scott Derrickson (“Doctor Strange”), and the series is executive produced by Tomorrow Studios’ Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements, as well as Bong Joon Ho, Park Chan-wook, Lee Tae-hun and Dooho Choi.

(Pictured: Jennifer Connolly)