TNT’s new TV series based on director Bong Joon-ho’s excellent 2013 sci-fi movie of the same name about a wintery post-apocalypse and the battle for survival on board a futuristic train, has been officially ordered to series following the completion of the pilot episode.

Sarah Aubrey, TNT’s executive vice president of original programming released this statement to Variety:

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. 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 pilot episode was helmed by Doctor Strange and Sinister director Scott Derrickson and written by Josh Friedman, whose credits include Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and the upcoming Avatar 2. Like the film, show show is set on board the Snowpiercer, a perpetually moving train circling the planet years after civilization came to an icy end, a powder keg where social injustice leads to literal class warfare amongst the passengers. The cast is headlined by Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly and Tony-winning Hamilton star Daveed Diggs. The supporting cast includes Mickey Sumner, Susan Park, Benjamin Haigh and Sasha Frolova.

The movie starred Chris Evans – in another of his excellent indie choices, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell and Alison Pill among many others. Whether the story can actually support a lengthy TV series remains to be seen. The movie uses the train as a metaphor for a revolution; the working class heroes fight their way forward one car at a time, brawling from the slums of the rear cars to the wealthy front cars.

A limited episode series would work without pushing the plausibility of the story to breaking point…especially if it’s a thoughtful, gritty, political sci-fi show that does for 2018 what Battlestar Galactica did for 2005.

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