The drama from Josh Friedman was first put in development a year ago at Tomorrow Studios.
More than a year after it was first announced, the TV adaptation of Snowpiercer has found a home.
Turner-owned TNT has handed out a pilot for the futuristic thriller based on the award-winning feature film of the same name.
Based on the 2013 Korean film, the TV series hails from Josh Friedman (Sarah Connor Chronicles, War of the Worlds), who will pen the script for Tomorrow Studios, which in November 2015 optioned the rights to the film. Turner's Studio T has boarded the drama as a co-producer.
The potential series will be based on the 2013 film that was written and directed by Bong Joon Ho in his first English-language production. The movie, which starred Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton 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.
The film was set in a post-apocalyptic Ice Age where the only remaining life on the planet survives aboard a train that travels around the globe.
Bong and feature co-producer Dooho Choi are attached to executive produce alongside Tomorrow Studios' Marty Adelstein and producing partner Becky Clements. Chan-wook Park, who produced the feature, is also attached as an EP as is Friedman.
The drama hails from Korea's largest movie studio CJ Entertainment & Media, which produced the feature. The sci-fi film is based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige.
The feature was released in June 2014 and grossed $4.5 million domestically en route to a $86.8 million worldwide cume after being released on video on demand after only two weeks in release. The film was also was an awards season favorite, picking up nominations from various festivals as well as the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. before landing on multiple top 10 films of the year lists across the country, including THR's Heat Vision.
"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 vp original programming at 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."
"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,” Tomorrow Studios CEO Adelstein said. "This is an incredibly powerful story and one for which finding the perfect home was imperative to its success."
Snowpiercer marks the third collaboration for TNT with Tomorrow Studios. The latter company also exec produces Chad Hodge's Good Behavior as well as TNT's Jeff Davis take on Let the Right One In.
Pilot Season TNT
