The saga of TNT’s attempt to bring Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer to TV has been long and complicated, forcing us to try and come up with so many train puns for headlines that we’re definitely using one here that we’ve done before, but things are now looking up for the dystopian train drama. According to Variety, the producers of the original movie have joined the producing team for the TV show, and director James Hawes has stepped in to replace Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson for the pilot episode’s reshoots. Derrickson, who directed the original version of the pilot, announced last month that he was refusing to return to the show for the “extreme reshoots” that TNT wanted because of the way new showrunner Graeme Manson had hacked up original showrunner Josh Friedman’s script (which was supposedly very good).
With both Derrickson and Friedman replaced and TNT presumably happy with what they’re doing, there’s nothing holding Snowpiercer back now except for its untenable class system and the frustrating need to keep the lower-class passengers in the back from eating each other. Things are going so smoothly, in fact, that Netflix has picked up the international distribution rights for the series, meaning it will be available for streaming on the platform in markets outside of the United States and China. In theory, Netflix wouldn’t be doing that if this really was the—pun intended, obviously—train wreck that it has appeared to be from the outside.
Snowpiercer is set to pull in to the station/premiere on TV at some point in 2019.