Snowpiercer: What will a TV version of the film look like?

Cable network TNT will adapt popular post-apocalyptic sci-fi film Snowpiercer for the small screen. But what would a TV version of this story involve?

Cable network TNT ordered a TV adaptation of Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi drama Snowpiercer this week. The post-apocalyptic series will run ten episodes and feature an all-star cast that includes A Beautiful Mind’s Jennifer Connelly, Hamilton star Daveed Diggs, The Americans’ Alison Wright, Tony winner Lena Hall and more.

“I’m a personal fan of Bong Joon Ho’s epic film, and jumped at the chance to honor his original vision, yet expand upon the world and characters with a diverse, award-winning cast,” said Sarah Aubrey, EVP of original programming for TNT. “Science fiction is the perfect genre to examine issues of race, class, gender and natural resources with thought-provoking and exciting storytelling. Snowpiercer will explore those relevant issues while embarking on a wild, action-filled ride.”

The original film, released in 2013, starred Chris Evans, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton and Octavia Spencer. It was set in a dystopian future in which the earth has frozen over. As a result, the remnants of humanity live aboard a perpetually-moving train that constantly circles the globe. The train cars are divided along class lines. Subsequently, the experience for various groups aboard it varies wildly in terms of everything from living conditions to available resources. Evans’ character, Curtis Everett, leads a rebellion against those in charge of “The Sacred Engine,” who ultimately control the train. (And society itself.)

The original Snowpiercer trailer provides a better look at the tone and plot of the film.

Given everything that happens in the movie, it’s a little hard to imagine what a TV version of this story is going to look like. But TNT seems quite keen to try. And there’s no shortage of potential story for them to mine in this universe.

The TV series will feature the same setting as the film. However, it will take place just seven years in to the Snowpiercer train’s journey. In contrast, Curtis’ story occurs at least eighteen years after the catastrophic destruction of the environment. (He mentions in the film that he’s been living on the train for at least that long and seems to remember some kind of life “before” it.)

Snowpiercer the series will apparently focus on “class warfare, social injustice, and the politics of survival” just as the film did. And, if you’ve seen the movie, then you know that it vaguely references several major events which occur earlier in the train’s journey. But while a two-hour film doesn’t have time to address all those stories, they could easily be fleshed out by a TV series.

Another challenge facing the show is that, given the events of the Snowpiercer movie, we sort of know where this story will end already. (Or, at least, we do in the most macro-sense possible.) But those events will take place at least eleven years into the future of the TV-version’s story. So it’s also extremely possible that none of the characters we meet here will even be around when the events of the movie occur. That leaves the creators with lots of interesting wiggle room to work with.

They could tell stories about characters we know from the film. We could even meet earlier versions of those people, or the folks connected to them. (The horrifying Minister Mason or the complicated tail-section leader Gillam are my picks here.) The could tell stories about the sections of the train we only see briefly in the film, rather than focusing solely on the poverty-stricken tail section or uber-elite front cars.

This is a lot to say that there are plenty of ways this series could go, while still remaining true to the spirit and story of the original film. That’s what makes it exciting, honestly. The creative team includes many of the same folks from Snowpiercer the movie, including Bong Joon Ho and others. This means that, no matter what kind of stories it chooses to tell, the TV series will likely stick closely to the movie’s tone and vision. That’s good news. Because even if we never meet Curtis Everett on the small screen, we’ll still believe that this is the same world he lived in. (Or will live in? Prequels are so weird.)

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No word yet on when we might see Snowpiercer on our screens. But hopefully it’ll happen before the end of the year.