While FX and Hulu only planned on “Shogun” to be a one-off miniseries, the massive audience that the samurai drama drew made it hard not to continue it, and it was announced that another two seasons are in the works. And today, FX has announced they’re now moving into production on that second season, with filming kicking off this January in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
FX also revealed to us in the official announcement that Emmy-winner Hiroyuki Sanada and co-star Comso Jarvis (“Warfare”) are set to reprise their respective roles of Lord Yoshii Toranaga and John Blackthorne as we now enter the era of the Shogunate (referring to Lord Toranaga’s historical reign of feudal Japan).
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Showrunners Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, who co-created the series for television, recently wrapped a writers’ room devoted to creating a wholly original new chapter to the first season, after they’ve used up all the source material from James Clavell’s novel that was adapted for the first season. And we can’t wait to see what the creative pair and their team of writers come up with.
What we do know is that season two will take place ten years later.
One reason for success, alongside a dedication to cultural authenticity, was that “Shogun” wasn’t just limited to the Hulu service. Domestic and foreign audiences got access to the series via Disney+, allowing for a heap of eyeballs on the streaming series and increasing the profile, leading to a hefty 18 Emmy Primetime Award wins, including Outstanding Drama Series alongside acting awards for Sanada, Anna Sawai, Tadanbou Asano, Takehiro Hira, and Nestor Carbonell.
Marks, Kondo, Sanada, Jarvis, Michaela Clavell, Edward L. McDonnell, and WB’s Michael De Luca are all part of the show’s fantastic producing team.
There are plenty of action-packed battles and political/foreign threats from Japanese history that could be easily mined for the dramatic series that mixes true-life characters and events with fictional ones. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that elements from the famous “47 Ronin” story could end up being fodder for some thrilling action sequences.
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Stay tuned for further information and casting updates when we get closer to that January production start for “Shogun.”