CJ Entertainment
Production companies Tomorrow Studios and Studio T are combining forces to co-produce SNOWPIERCER, a new series based on the critically acclaimed Bong Joon-ho 2013 film of the same name. TNT has given the series a pilot order and Josh Friedman has been tapped to write it.
The original film starred Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Song Kang-ho, Octavia Spencer, and Jamie Bell. It takes place several years in the future when the globe has become a frozen wasteland and the remainder of humanity lives on a massive train that forever encircles the planet. The train is divided by class, with the lower classes living in cramped quarters in the caboose, while the train becomes increasingly wealthy and decadent as you move up towards the engine room.
The film grossed close to $87 million on a $40 million after it faced difficulty in getting a wide release when Harvey Weinstein requested 20 minutes of footage be changed but director Joon-ho refused.
Other than writing, Friedman will also serve the series as showrunner and executive producer. He’ll be joined by Tomorrow Studios’ Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements; the original film’s Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, Lee Tae-hun, and Dooho Choi; and Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette of CJ Entertainment, which distributed the South Korean movie.
This will be the third venture between Tomorrow Studios and TNT, following Good Behavior starring Michelle Dockery, which premiered this month, and Let the Right One In, which was ordered last month.
Friedman created the Fox Series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and also wrote the feature films War of the Worlds and The Black Dahlia. Currently, he’s working on the script for James Cameron’s Avatar sequel.
He’s repped by UTA.
Anya Crittenton | Associate Editor
