In a new interview, the co-creator of “Shôgun” explained why the series will not be renewed for a second season, despite the immense success of the program!
In the ruthless world of television, the question of series renewal is often debated, but there are rare cases where the extension of a series is obvious. Shôgun undoubtedly falls into this second category: a critical and public triumph (4.4 out of 5 average on AlloCiné), the series also signed the best start of all time for a new release from the FX channel.
The series is inspired by the novel Shôgun by James Clavell, already adapted in 1980 with Richard Chamberlain and Toshirô Mifune in the main roles. Inspired by the true story of English sailor William Adams, the program immerses us in Japan in the 1600s where rival clans share the regency of the country.
It’s the new Game of Thrones!
This new adaptation of Shôgun benefited from a comfortable budget. For reasons linked in particular to Covid, the desire to film in Japan unfortunately could not be respected; the shooting therefore took place in Vancouver in Canada, a region nevertheless perfectly suited to samurai stories according to Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada.
Since its launch on February 27, the series has received excellent audiences. Shôgun also received very good feedback from Internet users, notably displaying a 100% positive review rating on the Rotten Tomatoes site. A triumph which earned him the title of “new Game of Thrones”.
A sequel that even the author of the novel could not have written
But quickly, the hope of a season 2 was dampened by the words of the creators of the series, Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo. The latter relied on James Clavell’s novel to write the program, and the entire book was adapted over the ten episodes of this season. Due to a lack of available material, a sequel was never considered by the couple of screenwriters.
In an interview given to Hollywood Reporterthe American screenwriter reiterated that it seems impossible to envisage a sequel for Shôgun. “How to do as well as the roadmap imagined by Clavell. I don’t know if it’s possible” did he declare. “I don’t know if Clavell could have done it either. That’s probably why he wrote other books afterwards, right? He knew what was best for him. It’s very complicated.”
What about a Shogun anthology?
The other books mentioned by Justin Marks are the other novels in the Asian Saga, an anthological literary cycle tracing the history of Asia through fiction. This saga notably includes the novel Un caïd (inspired by his own experience as a prisoner of war) or his other masterpiece Taï-Pan, dedicated to the opium war in Hong Kong in the 1840s.
But adapting these other novels to give an anthological sequel to Shôgun will not be easy, according to the screenwriter: “In Fargo for example, we follow different stories taking place in the same place, while those of the Asian Saga take place all over the world.”
The Shôgun mini-series can now be found in full on Disney+.
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