I remember the anticipation building over the course of a year to see Snowpiercer. Based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, the film had an intriguing sci-fi concept (a war between the rich and poor on a train circling the globe), a director (Bong Joon-ho), and cast (including Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton). So, now that there’s a television adaptation of this property in the works, there’s already a high standard it needs to meet.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tomorrow Studios has optioned the rights to the film, while Avatar 2 and 3 writer Josh Friedman is penning the script for the series. The good thing? Friedman seems to be aware that he has big shoes to fill. He said:

I’m a huge fan of director Bong’s films, especially Snowpiercer. It’s great the way the best sci-fi is great — thoughtful, political, funny, scary and sly. And it’s on a train. A big f—ing train. What more could you want?

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Image via The Weinstein Company

Should the series be picked up, it will be based on the film, which sees Evans as a poor train inhabitant fighting his way through the vehicle in an uprising against the rich. It marked Bong’s first English-language film and, since its release, has earned $86.8 million worldwide. The filmmaker, accompanied by his producers Dooho Choi and Chan-wook Park, is attached as an executive producer on the series, should it get picked up.

I’m still hesitant to get psyched over something of this nature. I was over the Minority Report series, though that’s looking to be the first major network cancellation with a reduced episode order. However, the special effects for Snowpiercer were minimal, which is attractive to TV and means a good work could be pulled off on a lower budget. Plus, the behind-the-scenes talent is a good sign.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

In this sci-fi epic from director Bong Joon-Ho (The Host, Mother), a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet. The final survivors board the SNOWPIERCER, a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine. When cryptic messages incite the passengers to revolt, the train thrusts full-throttle towards disaster.

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