The Snowpiercer TV series has already gone through pre-production hell, but it looks like there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Having been set up to air on American network TNT, it will now air on TBS, starting in 2020. And strangely, despite all the production problems, the show has already been renewed for a second season.
So how did we get here? TNT originally ordered the series in January 2018, to be based on Bong Joon-ho‘s 2013 film of the same name. Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs signed on to star, with Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) writing the pilot and Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange) directing. Sounds good, right?
However, shortly after that announcement, Friedman left the project over “creative differences”, although he lated stated on Twitter he was fired. Orphan Black co-creator Graeme Manson was tapped as the new showrunner, but Friedman lashed out for not reaching out to him, before Derrickson soon exited the series citing Manson’s “radically different vision”.
All that drama led many to presume that the series would probably never happen. These kinds of major pre-production kinks on a long-gestating show usually lead to a downfall of some kind. And yet here we are, with Snowpiercer now set to premiere, on TBS instead of TNT, in 2020. As for the season 2 renewal before season 1 has even aired, TBS general manager Brett Weitz simply said:
“We believe in the longevity of this series and that audiences will be amazed by the fantastical world that brings to life such relevant social, political and environmental issues”.
The series is set over seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland. It focuses on the last surviving members of humanity, who inhabit a gigantic, perpetually-moving train that circles the globe. On board, class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival play out to devastating consequences.
Can the Snowpiercer series live up to its half-riveting, half-frustrating off-screen drama? Who knows. But at least it looks like we’ll have a chance to find out.
#Peace.Love.Snowpiercer
