TNT has ordered a pilot for a film-to-TV adaptation of Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi thriller Snowpiercer. The showrunner of the series will be Josh Friedman (Avatar 4, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”), who also acts as writer and executive producer. The show will also be executively produced by Tomorrow Studios’ Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements as well as the originals films Bong Joon Ho, Park Chan-wook, Lee Tae-hun and Dooho Choi.

Executive vice president of original programming for TNT Sarah Aubrey explains, “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.”

Adelstein, who is CEO of Tomorrow Studios, adds, “TNT has become a great producing partner to Tomorrow Studios and we are excited to continue our relationship with them on Snowpiercer, for which we not only have a pilot but are writing multiple scripts. This is an incredibly powerful story and one for which finding the perfect home was imperative to its success.”

Snowpiercer is set seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, and the remnants of humanity inhabit a gigantic, perpetually moving train that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival are questioned in this riveting television adaptation.

Snowpiercer was directed by Bong Joon Ho and starred Chris Evans, John Hurt, Kang-ho Song, Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, and Ah-sung Ko.

I saw Snowpiercer in the theater and was taken aback by how fresh and exciting the movie was. I can easily see something like this being great for a TV series, especially if they break the episodes into the train cars. Like, imagine the first episode is the last train car and then each episode moves further down the line. Sure, they’d have to do it in a smart way because you can’t have the revolution kick off at the end of the first episode but there are other ways to make it work.

I’m also curious to know if the series will essentially be a retelling of the movie OR if they’ll choose the prequel or sequel route. Going into detail with what happened to the world prior to the train would be a fascinating story in its own right but then there’s following the story AFTER the movie, which is something interesting as well. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see for more information to come out!