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‘Snowpiercer’ Gets Another Launch Date As TNT Moves Forward Premiere Of Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Thriller

Peter White
·3 min read

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It’s taken a while to get to screens, but viewers will now be able to watch TNT’s post-apocalyptic thriller Snowpiercer slightly earlier than previously planned.

The WarnerMedia-owned network is moving forward the premiere of the Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs-fronted show. The series will launch on Sunday May 17 at 9pm. It was previously planned to launch on Sunday May 31.

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Deadline understands that the show is not replacing anything in the schedule but that the network is responding to the growing appetite for content as the majority of Americans are in lockdown.

This comes as the second season of the show, which is based on Oscar-winner Bong Joon Ho’s movie, halted production due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Set more than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, Snowpiercer centers on the remnants of humanity who inhabit a perpetually moving train with 1,001 cars that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival play out in this television adaptation. Alison Wright, Mickey Sumner, Susan Park, Iddo Goldberg, Katie McGuinness, Lena Hall, Annalise Basso, Sam Otto, Roberto Urbina, Sheila Vand and Jaylin Fletcher also star.

“Snowpiercer is one of the most anticipated original series of 2020 and in this climate, viewers are craving thrilling, engaging, edge-of-your-seat content that speaks to them on a deeper level,” said Brett Weitz, general manager for TNT, TBS and truTV. “It is extremely important that we continue with our promise to meet audiences where they are, and to that effect, we are moving up Snowpiercer’s premiere so that fans can enjoy this futuristic series even earlier.”

The show has had a long gestation; TNT ordered the Snowpiercer pilot back in November 2016 and picked it up to series over two years ago. Five days later after commission, original showrunner and pilot writer Josh Friedman exited the show, and Orphan Black‘s Graeme Manson took over after a few weeks.

About four months later, Scott Derrickson — the future Doctor Strange helmer who directed the Snowpiercer pilot — refused to return for reshoots, citing differences with Manson’s creative vision. TNT chief Kevin Reilly addressed that situation during the 2019 TCA winter press tour.

Then in May, the show was given an early Season 2 renewal and moved from TNT to sister channel TBS. But the brass had a change of heart five months later, and Snowpiercer was returned to its original network.

Diggs and Manson addressed the delays at the winter TCA. “It takes a long time to make really good sh*t,” said Daveed. Added Manson: “It had a long birth. It’s a really great property, I’m a huge fan of director Bong (Joon Ho)’s movie and huge fan of the graphic novels, and it took a long time to get it right and we got it right.”

Snowpiercer is produced by Tomorrow Studios, along with CJ Entertainment, which produced the film. The series is executive produced by Tomorrow Studios’ Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements; showrunner Manson, who rewrote the first episode; director James Hawes; Matthew O’Connor; Derrickson and the movie’s producers Bong, Miky Lee, Tae-sung Jeong, Park Chan-wook, Lee Tae-hun and Dooho Choi.

The network has also posted a new teaser ahead of the premiere, which you can see below:

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