Based upon acclaimed Bong Joon-ho movie of the same name, the upcoming Snowpiercer TV series 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." Production on the TNT hasn't exactly gone smoothly (more on that later), but it will enjoy the benefit of the great Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead) as a part of the cast.
Steven Ogg will be joining Snowpiercer in the recurring role of Pike, a hardened and battle-scarred career convict who was serving time in Cook Country Jail for armed robbery at the time of the Freeze but later escaped. He is a leader in the tail section of the train as well as a warrior of his people. The actor will be joining a cast which already includes Daveed Diggs, Mickey Sumner, Susan Park, Benjamin Haigh, Sasha Frolova, Katie McGuinness, Alison Wright, Annalise Basso, Sam Otto, Roberto Urbina, Sheila Vand, Lena Hall, and Jennifer Connelly as Melanie Cavill, an important first-class passenger and leader who is fascinated by the less fortunate riders on the train.
Now, onto those production issues. TNT officially gave the series a 10-episode order earlier this 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, TNT and Friedman then parted 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 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 (The Alienist) was later brought in to take over. Doesn't exactly leave you with a good feeling, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see whether all this suffering over Snowpiercer will be worth it when the series premieres in 2019.