Snowpiercer
Chris Evans Reloads In A New Clip From SNOWPIERCER!
Director Bong Joon-ho‘s newest sci-fi epic, Snowpiercer, has been a long-awaited event for a LOT of people who haven’t been able to see it since the director’s equally long battle to get his cut of the film released in the U.S.. This week, that all changes with its limited theatrical release starting Friday, and if you needed any more motivation, check out the latest clip below, and by all means, get your tickets today!
SYNOPSIS:
It’s been 18 years since we froze the earth. The few remaining humans live on the Snowpiercer, a train on an infinite loop around the globe. For those at the front, it’s a lavish paradise of drugs and sushi in the lap of luxury; for those trapped in the tail section, life is short and cruel.
But change is in the air. Curtis (Chris Evans), desperate to escape the tail of the train, plans an uprising, aided by his mentor Gilliam (John Hurt). What begins as an isolated riot explodes into a mass revolution, an all-or-nothing push to the front of the train, and a war for humanity’s future. Who will live and who will die? How far can they go? Is there hope beyond the frozen wastes?
On June 27, fight your way to the front.
SNOWPIERCER Gets A New Poster For Its U.S. Release
“Snowpiercer,” based on the French graphic novel “Le Transperceneige,” is set in a future where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews.
SNOWPIERCER Gets Its First Official U.S. Trailer
Have you ever gotten the feeling of total, absolute frustration from hearing that other people have seen a movie for you? Well, I certainly got that feeling before the The Raid 2 finally hit theaters, and I will be fixing that same problem when I go and see X-Men: Days Of Future Past.
But especially, I know where I will be on the weekend of June 27 when director Bong Joon-Ho‘s newest critically-acclaimed sci-fi action thriller, Snowpiercer, arrives on its day-and-date digital, VoD and theatrical release. And to think that all it took was a roughly a whole year after it was released in South Korea and other audiences around the world to much fan appeal.
Nearly a year. It never should have taken this long.
SYNOPSIS:
In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off all life on the planet except for a lucky few that boarded the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe, where a class system evolves.
Bong Joon-Ho's SNOWPIERCER Keeps Its Director’s Cut For North America
It’s been a long, long await for South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho as he sought to see his latest film, Snowpiercer, get its day in theaters around the world, including in North America. Evidently, as the film launched its success story with rave reviews from its previous releases in South Korea, Hong Kong and France, in addition to its positive test audience ratings for the director’s cut against TWC’s, the film suffered from a major snag last year as Harvey Weinstein felt it necessary to chop the film down for its U.S. audiences in southern states so it would sell better as a condensed action movie.
This obviously did not settle well with the director and it ultimately lead to a long and winding debate that kept the film’s North American release in an unnecessary state of limbo while Bong and TWC sorted out their differences, until Thursday night when Deadline reported that a deal has finally been reached for Bong to keep his two and a half-hour duration in exchange for limited theatrical release instead of a nationwide release as originally planned in 2012 when TWC acquired the rights.
Snowpiercer is based on a French graphic novel by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette and tells the story of a post-apocalyptic Earth where a failed experiment to stave off global warming has forced the planet’s remaining surviving inhabitants into a global train known as the Snowpiecer, where its survivors are broken into an oppressive class system that spills into war. The news comes just a little less than two months before the film’s lead actor, Chris Evans is set to appear in Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Snowpiercer is written by Bong and screenwriter Kelly Masters, with actor Song Kang-ho, actresses Tilda Swinton and Allison Pill, actors John Hurt, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris and Ewen Bremner, and actresses Octavia Spencer and Ah Sung-ko.
Stay tuned for more info.
The New Japanese Trailer For SNOWPIERCER Has Arrived!
For a film that has done significantly well on an international level, you would think The Weinstein Company, who own the rights in English-speaking territories to director Bong Joon-Ho‘s highly acclaimed post-apocalyptic contained sci-fi action epic, Snowpiercer, would stop holding out on the film that the rest of us truly deserve to see by now. But nope, that’s not the case. While we last learned that exclusive test viewings Bong‘s version here in America rated higher than TWC’s edited version, in addition to the director and distributor “talking a lot” about keeping the final cut, nothing has been said publicly so far about what WILL be done. So yeah, I sense the bitterness among fans, and it’s frustrating. Kinda like talking to a brick wall at this point.
SNOWPIERCER Director Bong Joon-Ho: "We're Talking A Lot About Keeping The Original Cut."
It was intially reported back in August that film distributors over at The Weinstein Company were going to release a version of director Bong Joon-Ho‘s latest science fiction action epic, Snowpiercer, which would have twenty minutes of the film removed. The initial report from IF Magazine quoted writer and film festival programmer Tony Rayns who said “TWC people have told Bong that their aim is to make sure the film ‘will be understood by audiences in Iowa… and Oklahoma,’”, further adding that TWC’s treatment of the film for the U.S., which would unnecessarily add opening and closing voice overs and remove a lot of the character development that was so elemental for the film’s success, was also reflection on other English-speaking areas for which they pre-bought the rights to the film earlier on.
At this point, the film was already generating favorable reviews which only increased between its South Korean premiere, its record-breaking debut in France and the upward response from audiences in. ever since, which may or may not have been an indicator that TWC might finally be changing its way of thinking. This week, The Hollywood Reporter now reports some positive news that considering all of the viewer feedback on the film, there is a BIG chance that TWC’s version of Snowpiercer COULD grant English-language audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand a chance to embrace Bong’s unaltered vision of the film that is currently being shown elsewhere. The details of that report were made by Bong himself during his attendance at Marta Del Plata in Argentina wherin it was mentioned a prior trip to New York was spent in lengthy negotiations with The Weinstein Company on how to distribute the film to English territories. “I stayed in New York for two weeks before coming here to Mar del Plata, mostly because of this matter,” said Bong. “And the good news is that after all the speculation and comments about that 20-minute cut, and considering the original version that was released in Korea and France also will be released in Japan and Hong Kong, we have been talking a lot about keeping the original cut for the U.S. release, so what I can say is…have faith.”
The news also comes just after Bong was quoted in a recent interview with Twitchfilm‘s own James Marsh where it was revealed that Bong‘s cut of the film was already scoring higher this year for two American test audiences while negotiations were still on-going between TWC and Korean investor CJ. “…the funny thing is once there did exist a 20-minute cut-out version, a Weinstein version of Snowpiercer, they had a screening of that version in New Jersey in July.” Bong said. “Then CJ did another test screening of my original version in LA with a normal American audience, and with my version the response was much higher than the scores from the Weinstein version…”
This probably won’t signal a complete about-face for the way The Weinstein Company does its business. But it is early, and if anything, this should be a huge wake-up call for the company that has become nefarious for chopping up films to sell to English-speaking audiences who now seem ready to move forward and get over the need for detrimentally simplistic measures of film enjoyment.
The latest film that got the Weinstein treatment was Wong Kar Wai’s highest grossing film to date, The Grandmaster, from which TWC’s own rearrangememt involved trimming 22 minutes of the original Chinese release with Martin Scorsese and Samuel L. Jackson tacked on for what ended up only being a limited U.S. release, as opposed to the wider one it could have gotten. That particular film ended up with its own fair share of negative reviews, as well as other critical write-ups that were more of a mix of positive and defensive reflections of the film that probably didn’t do much to extinguish anyone’s dissent on a major level.
That said, we don’t yet know if Snowpiercer will also get the nationwide release it deserves, and I’m no expert on theater releases. But if TWC knows what’s good for itself on a business front, and if there is some serious money to be made in a movie that has proven consistently to perform well above average like Snowpiercer, then the film ought to make its way to more than just a few arthouse theaters this time around. It just seems like the much more clearer and logical choice.
We need a release date already.
The Marta Del Plata film festival closes this Sunday.
With further plans to release the film in Latin America, Snowpiercer is set to release in Hong Kong next week, followed by Taiwan on December 6, 2013, Estonia on December 20, 2013 , and next year in Japan (trailer below), Sweden and Greece on February 7, 14 and 20, and just two months prior to the wide release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, starring Snowpiercer lead actor Chris Evans, and also…Samuel L. Jackson!
Hm. Would you look at that! 🙂
Hong Kong Gets A New Trailer For SNOWPIERCER
With actor Chris Evans becoming more and more prevalent nowadays as an action hero, I’m privy to believe we will continue seeing him in larger scale action films in the years ahead. Between this and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he is a name that sells, something that has definitely benefitted director Bong Joon-ho for his latest sci-fi action thriller epic, Snowpiercer.
Hong Kong Gets A New Poster For SNOWPIERCER
Comic Book Movie forwarded the latest international poster for the upcoming sci-fi action thriller, Snowpiercer. The poster comes just several weeks after the Hong Kong distributor Golden Scene made public their release date for the film from director Bong Joon-ho. Bong, coming off of a recent dual interview he did along with Quentin Tarantino at the Busan International Film Festival earlier this month, was recently reported to be “furious” over the apparent 20 minutes of cuts from the film for North America and other English-speaking territories against his wishes, as it languishes in distribution hell under The Weinstein Company until a release date gets announced.
Based on a screenplay by Bong and co-writer Kelly Masterson, Snowpiercer is the live-action adaptation of the French graphic novel, “Le Transperceniege” by Benjamin Legrand and Jacques Lob. Set in the year 2035, a failed attempt to stave off global warming has left Earth covered in extreme cold and snow, forcing remaining survivors on a motion engine-powered mega train that circumnavigates the earth year-round. Ultimately, with a class system dividing the rich and wealthy from the poor passengers in the back of the train, a revolution ensues.
Snowpiercer premiered in South Korea earlier back in August with rave reviews prior to its upcoming theatrical release in France on October 30, 2013, as well as its Hong Kong release on November 28, 2013. The film stars Chris Evans who just appeared in this week’s first trailer for his return to the big screen next year as the titular role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Also starring in Snowpiercer are Sung Kang-ho, Jamie Bell, Ewen Bremmer, Allison Pill, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Ko A-sung, John Hurt and Ed Harris.
Chris Evans Is Battle-Scarred In The Final Trailer For SNOWPIERCER
Chris Evans is set to lead an ensemble cast in the international Korean sci-fi action production, Snowpiercer. The film is set to release in Korea on August 1, 2013, with a date in North America still pendng courtesy of The Weinstein Company.
New Press Material Now Online For SNOWPIERCER
Hot off of a recent live internet showcase hosted by Korean film critic, Lee Dong-jin, in promotion for filmmaker Bong Joon-ho‘s post-apocalyptic sci-fi action adventure, Snowpiercer, we now have a new international trailer highlighting the film’s South Korean release date for August 1, 2013 from CJ Entertainment. Several new character featurettes and descriptions, and set images are also available online featuring the cast, including Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Alison Pill, Octavia Spencer, Ko Asung, Ewen Bremner and Song Kang-ho.
It’s All-Out Civil War On A Speeding Train In The New International Trailer For SNOWPIERCER
A new international trailer was unveiled for filmmaker Bong Joon-ho‘s upcoming summer 2013 crossover debut of the sci-fi action adventure, Snowpiercer. The film features an international cast that includes Sung Kang-ho, Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Ewen Bremmer, Allison Pill, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt and Ed Harris.
New Promo Footage For SNOWPIERCER
Based on a screenplay co-written by Bong along with Kelly Masterson, SNOWPIERCER is the live-action adaptation of the French graphic novel, “Le Transperceniege” by Benjamin Legrand and Jacques Lob, which takes place in the year 2035 where world war has thrown the planet into a snow-covered post apocalyptic state, forcing Earth’s last survivors to board the high-tech Snowpiercer train. When their worlds collide, the survivors, divided by economic class, face an ironic turn of events causing their last best hope to become a dangerous and deadly battleground that will endanger what remains of humanity.