Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson has taken to Twitter to explain why he is leaving TNT’s Showpiercer series after he was asked to return for significant reshoots, as drama continues to define this production.

To recap, TNT originally ordered the series — starring Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly — last January, based on Joon-ho Bong‘s 2013 film of the same name, which itself was based on the French post-apocalyptic graphic novel “Le Transperceneige.” The pilot was written by Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and directed by Derrickson.

Shortly afterwards, Friedman left the project over “creative differences,” though on Twitter he stated that he was fired for fear of not being “compliant.”

About a month later, Orphan Black co-creator Graeme Manson was tapped as the new showrunner, with TNT’s executive vice president of original programming calling him “the best conductor to navigate the thought provoking and delicate themes of the series while bringing this frozen, futuristic world to life.”

But, as THR reports, Friedman lashed out at Manson for not reaching out to him, saying in a series of tweets that…

“If you’re asked to rewrite someone or take over their show it seems like good sense and good karma to reach out to that person first and a) find out what the circumstances of their departure are and b) thank them for doing the work you’ll be profiting from. You should buy that person a nice meal or a bottle of alcohol if they’re up for it. Your money was earmarked for them at one time. And more than likely, what may be a good job for you was a passion project for them. Put another way: if you were to take over a show I’d originated and worked on for two years and didn’t reach out to me before taking the job you’re either an idiot, a coward, or a vichy motherfucker.”

To say there is drama with the series is an understatement, but now Derrickson has added some fuel to the fire with his own tweets, saying.

The 72-page Snowpiercer TV pilot script by @Josh_Friedman is the best I’ve ever read. The feature-length pilot I made from that script may be my best work.

The new show runner has a radically different vision for the show. I am forgoing my option to direct the extreme reshoots.

— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) June 29, 2018

TNT has not yet responded to Derrickson’s comments, or named a new director.

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.

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