Slowly but surely, the wheels are beginning to ache into motion for TNT’s upcoming Snowpiercer pilot.
Three weeks after Hamilton‘s Daveed Diggs reserved his seat aboard the titular vessel, one that loops around a frozen wasteland in perpetuity with the remnants of society on board, and Deadline is now reporting that Jennifer Connelly has sealed a deal to star in the futuristic drama based on Bong Joon-ho’s dystopian thriller of the same name.
Scott Derrickson of Doctor Strange will direct the one-hour pilot, with the Oscar-winning Connelly now poised to assume the role of Melanie Cavill, a “First Class passenger who works as the Voice of the Train – responsible for making the daily announcements over its PA system. Though many in her VIP position are dismissive of the lower class passengers, Melanie is curiously fascinated by them.”
The addition of Jennifer Connelly, who is making a rare foray into the TV realm for TNT’s Snowpiercer revival, makes for a nice counter to Daveed Diggs’ casting, too, after the latter landed the part of Layton Well, a prisoner barely surviving the harsh conditions in the tail end of the train. Part and parcel of Snowpiercer‘s success – on the silver screen, at least – was the ways in which Bong Joon-ho’s cult classic constructed a timely analogy within the confines of a ruddy old train, and one would assume that Diggs and Connelly’s respective characters will put social classes and other stigmas aside once the drama gets underway. Bong Joon-ho, meanwhile, is attached to executive produce alongside Derrickson.
It’s arguably one of the hottest tickets on TNT’s slate (no pun intended), and we can fully expect to catch wind of further casting announcements as Snowpiercer hurtles toward its small screen debut.
