TBS' upcoming Snowpiercer TV series based upon the acclaimed Boog Joon-ho movie of the same name hasn't exactly had the easiest time of it, but we're finally starting to get our first looks at the upcoming series. Snowpiercer is set seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland and centers on the remnants of humanity, who inhabit a gigantic, perpetually-moving train that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival will be questioned in the "riveting television adaptation."
Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we've got several photos from Snowpiercer which feature the great Jennifer Connelly.
Jennifer Connelly plays Melanie Cavill, an important first-class passenger and leader who is fascinated by the less fortunate riders on the train. Cavill is the head of hospitality as well as "the voice of the train" who makes the announcements to all of the passengers. Also featured in the above photos is Daveed Diggs, who stars in the series as Andre Layton, an ex-detective who is recruited by the train's ruling authorities in order to track down a killer. "Layton is a resident of the tail, which is the lowest class all the way at the back of the train," Diggs said. "But he becomes useful for people uptrain." Despite dealing heavily with class warfare and social justice, Snowpiercer director James Hawes (Black Mirror) says that the series is "not a political show. It is adventure storytelling. But it obviously touches on a lot of themes from the news."
I mentioned earlier that Snowpiercer hasn't had the easiest production, so here's a quick rundown. Snowpiercer was officially given a 10-episode series order last year with Scott Derrickson (DOCTOR STRANGE) set to helm the pilot from a script by show-runner Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). Unfortunately, the network and Friedman wound up parting ways over "creative differences," but Friedman took to Twitter to state that he had been fired because the network didn't believe that he'd be "compliant." Graeme Manson (Orphan Black) was then brought in to be the new show-runner, and Friedman blasted Manson on Twitter for not reaching out to him before taking the gig. If that wasn't enough, it seems that Scott Derrickson had his own issues with Manson as he chose to step away from Snowpiercer rather than direct a series of "extreme" reshoots which were radically different from what he signed up for. James Hawes was later brought in to take over. Despite all those setbacks, TBS obviously has faith in the series as it stands now because they've already renewed it for a second season. Snowpiercer will debut on TBS spring 2020.