South Korean writer-director Bong Joon-ho, who has crafted such internationally lauded features as The Host and Mother, is gearing up to begin production on his first English-language film, Snow Piercer. But while he begins gathering a cavalcade of stars for the icy drama, Variety reports that the Snow Piercer script, which is a joint effort of Joon-ho and Oldboy director Park Chan-wook, will be receiving a polish from Before the Devil Knows You're Dead screenwriter Kelly Masterson. This seems a smart move as Masterson has shown a sharp talent with gritty, character-driven dramas, a genre that Joon-ho and Chan-wook favor or at the very least use as a base to construct wild and unforgettable films.

Kelly Masterson made his dazzling debut with Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, which was memorably helmed by moviemaking legend Sidney Lumet, yet Masterson has been largely absent from the industry ever since. But after a long winter, he's is plotting his return to acclaim with two more in-development projects. The first is the Tobey Maguire-produced crime-drama Good People, based on the Marcus Sakey novel. Since 2009 Masterson has been reportedly working on adapting the tale of an infertile couple that have been driven into debt by the high-cost fertility treatments, but feel their luck has turned around upon discovering a cache of cash in a dead neighbor's apartment. Though there's no word on when the project could come to fruition. The second scripting gig is Masterson's collaboration with Ridley and Tony Scott to develop the pair's diamond-trade TV drama Stones, which is set to air on AMC…eventually.

In the meantime, Masterson has a quick turnover on polishing the Snow Piercer script, as the drama, which follows train travellers tensely making their way through a world of unrelenting ice and snow, is set to shoot this March. Already signed on to the project are Captain America: The First Avenger star Chris Evans,We Need to Talk About Kevin stunner Tilda Swinton, and The Adventures of Tintin's lead voice actor, Jamie Bell. With Snow Piercer's start date fast approaching, we expect further casting news to surface soon.