Shōgun (Disney+): good news for fans of this series about medieval Japan

We had suspected this for a few days, after the star and producer of Shōgun, Hiroyuki Sanada, has reached a deal with FX to continue playing Lord Yoshii Toranaga. But it is now clear: the American channel wants to continue adapting the work of novelist James Clavell. FX and Hulu (which broadcasts the series in the United States) wish to bring back Shōgun for two more seasons.

Return to Japan

Nothing is set in stone yet, because FX must finalize this project with Clavell’s family, who manages the rights to his literary works. However, the co-creators of the series, Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, will return to helm the show, as will executive producer Michaela Clavell.

We don’t yet know when season 2 of Shōgun will begin filming if the green light is given, but a team of screenwriters is already starting to be assembled with the aim of getting to work this summer.

As our colleagues at Deadlinewe don’t know anything about the content of these next seasons of the series, namely if they will only focus on the universe of Shōgun or whether they will extend to the rest of Clavell’s Asian saga.

A not so limited series

In any case, the announcement of the renewal of Shōgun now changes its status to a mini-series. The show will thus be considered for the Emmy Awards not in the “limited series” category, but “drama series”.

The first season of Shōgun follows the epic tale of a Westerner (played by Cosmo Jarvis) in medieval Japan, where his destiny becomes inextricably linked to Lord Toranaga and translator Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai).

Just six days after their release, the first episodes of the series received 9 million views around the world (on Hulu and Disney+), making Shōgun the number 1 FX show on Disney streaming platforms.

Note, this series took six years to put together and remains FX’s most expensive production. All that remains is to hope that the sequel won’t take so long to see the light of day.

• Watch a trailer for Shōgun :