The post-apocalyptic wasteland of Snowpiercer captivated audiences on a global level. Touching on modern fears of climate change and economic inequity, the film struck a chord with movie watchers making it one of the surprise hits of last year. Its resonance only widened as it hit streaming services and DVD shelves; it's an impressive work of dystopian storytelling that will likely live on for years to come.
As Joon-ho Bong’s (The Host, Mother) first English language film (and comic book adaptation), Snowpiercer brought the visual language of Korean cinema to a wider American audience before becoming a global hit. The film starred Chris Evans (Captain America) and Tilda Swinton (Trainwreck) as two people on the opposite sides of the socio-economic ladder, after a new ice age forced humanity onto a perpetually moving train in order to survive. Now, the story of survival and humanity’s strength is set to continue, albeit in a slightly different format.
THR is reporting that Josh Friedman (The Sarah Connor Chronicles) is set to adapt Snowpiercer into a television series for Tomorrow Studios. Details regarding the project have yet to be revealed, but Bong is attached as a producer alongside Dooho Choi and Chan-wook Park, who also helped produce the film.
Snowpiercer is merely the latest successful film to find new life as a TV series. The past several years have seen network schedules littered with projects who started life as feature films, with Limitless and Ash vs. Evil Dead being examples from this season alone. It’s not a surprising move for industry known for reboots and remakes - and sometimes a TV series adaptation can surprise you by adding to the mythos established by the original film(s).
Friedman certainly has experience in that regard. While The Sarah Connor Chronicles was regrettably short lived, the series was certainly able to expand upon the Terminator franchise better than any of the movies since Judgment Day. The world of Snowpiercer offers the writer a playground of potential to work with, especially considering how little was explored in the movie. The past, present, and future of that world is open for discovery, and a TV series could be an excellent place to expand upon the ideas and themes put forth in the film. Even a straightforward adaptation of Le Transperceneige, the French graphic novel that inspired Snowpiercer, could work well in a serialized TV format.
Friedman, for his part, seems enthusiastic at the possibilities this project has to offer.
"I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity…I’m a huge fan of director Bong’s films, especially Snowpiercer. It’s great the way the best sci-fi is great — thoughtful, political, funny, scary and sly. And it’s on a train. A big f—ing train. What more could you want?"
The series is still in the early development stages, however, and so far the initial screenplay has yet to be written. As it stands, the series doesn’t even have a network to call a home, so it could be a while before Snowpiercer sees the light of day. Still, Tomorrow Studios’ Marty Adelstein isn’t without clout, being producer of Last Man Standing, Aquarius, and Teen Wolf. Moreover, networks these days are loving high concept shows. Between all that and the film’s growing fan base, it would be surprising if we didn’t see some forward momentum from this project.
We'll bring you more information on the Snowpiercer TV series as it becomes available.
Source: THR