‘Snowpiercer’ To Air On TNT As Decision To Move Sci-Fi Drama To TBS Is Reversed
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Futuristic thriller Snowpiercer, starring Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs, will air on TNT after all. The network just made the surprising announcement; the series will debut on TNT in spring 2020. The news comes months after WarnerMedia in May announced that Snowpiercer, which had been developed and ordered to series by TNT, was moving to TBS. Comedy-centric TBS was to make its first foray into drama programming with Snowpiercer, which in May also was renewed for a second season ahead of its debut.
TBS this afternoon announced a straight-to-series order to the one-hour action drama Obliterated.
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“We’ve had the unique opportunity to more thoroughly test and explore where this show will best perform. While we are still adding dramas to TBS (such as Obliterated), after further research and consideration we’ve decided to keep Snowpiercer on TNT,” said Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer, HBO Max and president, TNT, TBS, and truTV. “Now that we’ve seen this incredible post-apocalyptic sci-fi series in its entirety, and better understand the audience this show will appeal to, we’re confident it will perform strongest on TNT.”
Set more than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, Snowpiercer centers on the remnants of humanity, who inhabit a 1001-car, perpetually moving train that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival play out in this riveting television adaptation based on the acclaimed movie and graphic novel series of the same name.
In the Obliterated pickup announcement today, Brett Weitz, general manager, TNT, TBS, truTV, addressed TBS’ foray into drama.
“As TBS’ brand continues to evolve, our primary focus of late has been for us to find dramas that are as much fun as they are high stakes,” he said. In a recent interview with Deadline, he also talked about the TBS brand filter that involves adding “more humorous, premium populist dramas” to the network’s slate of original half-hour comedies.
As an action dramedy, Obliterated better fits that filter than Snowpierfcer. At TNT, Snowpiercer will join original drama series Animal Kingdom, renewed for a fifth season, and Claws, which was just picked up for a fourth and final season.
In addition to Connelly and Diggs, Season 1 of Snowpiercer stars Alison Wright, Mickey Sumner, Susan Park, Iddo Goldberg, Katie McGuinness, Lena Hall, Annalise Basso, Sam Otto, Roberto Urbina, Sheila Vand and Jaylin Fletcher.
Snowpiercer is produced by Tomorrow Studios (a joint venture between Marty Adelstein and ITV Studios), along with CJ Entertainment, who produced the original film. The series is executive produced by Tomorrow Studios’ Adelstein and Becky Clements; showrunner Graeme Manson, who wrote the first episode; director James Hawes; Matthew O’Connor; Scott Derrickson, and the original film’s producers Bong Joon-ho, Miky Lee, Tae-sung Jeong, Park Chan-wook, Lee Tae-hun and Dooho Choi.
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