It's been a long road to the screen, but Shōgun is ready for its close-up.
FX on Thursday announced the highly-anticipated global event series will arrive in early 2024.
The series will air on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ in all other territories, beginning in February 2024.
In addition to its day-and-date global streaming launch, the FX linear channel will telecast new episodes once each week.
FX's Shōgun, an original adaptation of James Clavell's bestselling novel, was created for television by Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks.
The 10-episode limited series is set in Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Producer Hiroyuki Sanada stars as "Lord Yoshii Toranaga" who is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him.
When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot, "John Blackthorne" (Cosmo Jarvis), comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne's own enemies — the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants.
Toranaga's and Blackthorne's fates become inextricably tied to their translator, "Toda Mariko" (Anna Sawai), a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last of a disgraced line.
While serving her lord amidst this fraught political landscape, Mariko must reconcile her newfound companionship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her and her duty to her late father.
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The limited series features a highly decorated Japanese cast, unprecedented for an American production, including Tadanobu Asano as "Kashigi Yabushige," a notorious backstabber and close ally of Toranaga, Hiroto Kanai as "Kashigi Omi," the young leader of the fishing village where Blackthorne's ship was found, and Takehiro Hira as "Ishido Kazunari," a powerful bureaucrat who is Toranaga's chief rival.
Also on the impressive cast is Moeka Hoshi as "Usami Fuji," a widow who must find new purpose amidst her lord's fight, Tokuma Nishioka as "Toda Hiromatsu," Toranaga's trusted general and closest friend, and Shinnosuke Abe as "Toda Hirokatsu" ("Buntaro"), Mariko's jealous husband.
The cast is rounded out by Yuki Kura as Yoshii Nagakado, the brash son of Toranaga with a strong desire to prove himself, and Fumi Nikaido as Ochiba no Kata, the revered mother of the heir who will stop at nothing to put an end to Toranaga and his threat to her son's power.
Shōgun is created for television by Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks, with Marks serving as showrunner and executive producer.
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Also serving as executive producers are Michaela Clavell, Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, and Kondo.
Hiroyuki Sanada serves as a Producer. The series is produced by FX Productions.
With Shōgun nabbing a series order in 2018, there are high expectations that it will live up to the quality of the 1975 novel of the same name.
Adaptations are tricky to pull off, but half the battle is knowing that they capture the essence of the original work.
Yes, there will probably be some considerable deviations because that's what we've come to expect nowadays, but based on the promo, it looks like we're in for a sprawling epic.
Knowing how many years it's taken to make makes us more interested because it sounds like FX, the creators, and the producers have made the best possible version of the show they could.
The production values in the trailer are insane, promising epic fights, significant action set pieces, and lots of interesting dynamics between the characters.
Check out the promo below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAN5uspO_hk
What are your thoughts on the official trailer?
Will you check out Shōgun when it premieres on FX, Hulu, and Disney+ next year?
Hit the comments.
