TNT and Tomorrow Studios are one step closer to pulling Snowpiercer away from the station. The companies are teaming up to turn Bong Joon Ho’s film of the same name into a television thriller. Until now, Tony Award-winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) was the only announced actor. But Snowpiercer is now adding more star power to their line-up with Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind.)
Connelly will play Melanie Cavill, a member of Snowpiercer’s first class. Cavill is also known as the “Voice of the Train” as she is responsible for daily train-wide announcements that are made over the PA system. The character is described as “curiously fascinated” by the lower class passengers, which makes her an oddity among the elite. Most of them are dismissive of those who live in the back of the train, passengers such as Daveed Diggs’ Layton Well. Well is a prisoner who gets swept up in the class struggle that threatens to forever alter life on the train. With Connelly now on board as the ubiquitous “Voice” makes it easy to conjure up scenes where she directs Diggs’ character on missions of subversion.
A little more on the plot, from the press release:
Set seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, Snowpiercer centers on the remnants of humanity, who inhabit a gigantic, perpetually moving train that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival are questioned in this riveting television adaptation.
The pilot will be directed by Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange). Combined with the star power of both a Hamilton alumni and Connelly — who rarely does television — TNT and Tomorrow Studios are throwing a lot of resources at Snowpiercer. The pilot is being written by showrunner Josh Friedman, whose also penned the much-respected pilot for The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Put it all together, and this paints a picture of a series to keep an eye on.
