Despite originally being slated for its series premiere on TNT on May 31st of 2020, the post-apocalyptic thriller Snowpiercer will be debuting two weeks early on May 17th. The television show is based on a 2013 Korean-Czech movie filmed in English, also called Snowpiercer, which was itself based on a 1982 French graphic novel titled Le Transperceneige.
The announcement that the release of Snowpiercer would be moved up to a closer date comes at a time when many movies and television shows are being delayed due to complications in production caused by COVID-19. However, since quarantines have been instituted around the world, participation in multiple forms of media has been boosted, making it an ideal time to launch a completed program to a larger market.
The general plot of the Snowpiercer/La Transperceneige franchise is that the Earth enters an ice age, freezing over the now uninhabitable planet. The last known survivors live on the titular train, the Snowpiercer, which navigates the globe. In the upcoming television series and movies, the train is owned and operated by a mysterious man named Wilford.
While being based on both the graphic novel and movie, the Snowpiercer show is set in the universe established by the movie directed by Bong Joon-ho, currently the most expensive Korean production ever made at a budget of $40 million. Fans will now be able to see two weeks earlier whether the show can live up to the legacy of its cult-classic predecessor.
Snowpiercer is slated to debut on May 17th of 2020, on TNT.