TWC picks up Bong Joon Ho's Snowpiercer

TWC head Harvey Weinstein said: “Snowpiercer is the amazing vision of Bong Joon-Ho. With a stellar cast led by Chris Evans, we look forward to bringing this action packed thriller to audiences worldwide. We could not be more excited to partner with CJ Entertainment on this project.”

TWC took rights for US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

CJ Entertainment head Tae-sung Jung said: “We expect Snowpiercer, produced with a domestic studio and producers employing Hollywood actors and crew, targeting a global audience, will become a new milestone in domestic film history. We’re very happy that The Weinstein Company, which understands the value and significance of Snowpiercer, has ultimately been decided to be our North American release partner.”

Snow Piercer is set in a new ice age where a train goes around with survivors divided into different cars according to class. Leaders in the prison-camp-like last car stage an uprising. They confront their enemies, car by car, as they move towards the front of the train where the rich and powerful ride.

Director of mutant thriller hit The Host and previous Cannes competitor Mother, Bong Joon-ho based the script on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige.

The film’s credits now list producer Tae-hun Lee’s Opus Pictures in addition to Park Chan-wook’s Moho Film with CJ Entertainment presenting and distributing locally.

Korean war film Taegukgi’s DoP Hong Kyeong-pyo shot the film while VFX specialist Eric Durst (Spider-Man 2, End Of Days) and music director Marco Beltrami (Hellboy, Terminator 3) are attached on the Hollywood side.

The film stars Chris Evans with Song Kang-ho, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ewen Bremner, Ko A-sung and Alison Pill.

Snowpiercer is due for a 2013 release with a shot at launching at Cannes. CJ says a wide release is planned for the film in the US although release dates and screen numbers are yet to be decided.