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How is the new Snowpiercer series different from the movie?

WITH Oscar-winning Parasite director Bong Jooh-ho as an executive producer, the new Snowpiercer series is certain to be a must-watch.

But how is the sci-fi TV show, released this month on TNT, different from the movie of the same name?

 Snowpiercer hits TNT this month
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Snowpiercer hits TNT this monthCredit: TM & © Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved

How is the new Snowpiercer series related to the movie and graphic novel?

The upcoming TV show is based on a 2013 film - also called Snowpiercer - which starred Tilda Swinton and Chris Evans.

It was created by South Korean director Joon-ho, who won Best Director, Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay accolades for Parasite at the Academy Awards earlier this year.

He returns as an executive producer in this new small-screen version of the post-apocalyptic thriller, which takes place on a constantly moving train called "Snowpiercer."

Both the film and new TV series - whose cast members include David Diggs and Jennifer Conelly - were based on a 1982 French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette.

All three pose the same question: "What if the entire world suddenly froze over, forcing the remaining members of society to live together on a huge high-speed train?"

It is likely the new series will feature the same action and violence, as well as surprising twists and plot themes exploring class difference and climate change.

 The new series is based on a 2013 film, which was itself inspired by a French novel from the 1980s
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The new series is based on a 2013 film, which was itself inspired by a French novel from the 1980sCredit: TM & © 2018 Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc A WarnerMedia Company

Do the same characters appear in the movie and the series?

The premise of the series is the same as the movie.

Seventeen years after the world freezes over and becomes a wasteland, the remaining members of humanity live in a giant train which constantly travels around the globe and keeps its inhabitants safe from the cold world outside.

However, writer Graeme Manson has confirmed that the upcoming show, which has already been renewed for a second series, won't feature younger or older versions of the characters they saw in the film - and has an entirely new assortment of passengers and plot.

When asked at the San Diego Comic Con if the series was a prequel or sequel to the film, he replied: "No, we stand alone.

 The sci-fi show is based on the idea that the world has frozen over
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The sci-fi show is based on the idea that the world has frozen overCredit: TM & © Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved

"It goes back to one of the post scripts of the graphic novels, I think the third author said there are as many stories to tell on Snowpiercer as there are trains to circle the Earth.

"I like that, I think...that sounds like a franchise. So we’ll do one here, and then who knows, another train could start up sometime.”

What happened in the movie and how did it end?

It's 2031 - seventeen years after an experiment to combat global warming catastrophically backfired, and unintentionally sparked an ice age which caused the earth to freeze over.

All life is extinguished except the inhabitants of the Snowpiercer, a huge train that constantly travels the circumference of the globe.

The elites live in luxury carriages at the front of the train, while low-class citizens inhabit the rear in squalid, brutal conditions.

One of the latter, Curtis Everett, leads a revolt that he plans will take them all the way up to the engine at the front of the train.

Many die along the way as the rebels make it through each carriage, and they learn horrifying secrets about why they have been kept alive.

There is an explosion caused by the fighting, which in turn triggers an avalanche that derails the train.

The movie's final scenes see two of the rebels, Yona and Timmy, as the only apparent survivors.

They emerge from the wreckage and see a polar bear, proof that the world is thawing and life exists outside the train.

Watch the official trailer for Snowpiercer starring Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Conelly
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