Following much speculation, it looks like a new season of Shōgun is on the way after all.
The first season of hit drama series concluded last month (April 23). The ten-episode first series premiered back in February and was available to be streamed via Hulu and FX in the United States and on Disney+ in the UK.
Shōgun depicts Japan in the year 1600, and some have labelled the series as the “new Game of Thrones”. In it, Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) is fighting for his life as his enemies unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby village, where the character of John Blackthorne (Jarvis) is introduced.
The historical drama is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell, which had previously been adapted into a 1980 American miniseries. This version has been overseen by the husband-and-wife creative team of Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, the latter of whom was a co-writer of Top Gun: Maverick.
The show has been six years in the making and was FX’s most expensive show to date.
Now, as per Deadline, Hiroyuki Sanada, star and producer of the show, appears to have signed a new deal to return as Lord Yoshii Toranaga in a second instalment.
Previously, the show’s co-creator and producer Justin Marks appeared to confirm that there wouldn’t be a season two when he spoke to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year.
“We took the story to the end of the book and put a period at the end of that sentence,” he told the outlet. “We love how the book ends; it was one of the reasons why we both knew we wanted to do it — and we ended in exactly that place. And I’ve been party to this in the past with shows like this, where you build a whole factory, and it only pumps out 10 cars and closes up shop. It’s a bummer.”
Clavell did write five further books in his ‘Asian Saga’, each one taking on a different time period in the histories of countries including Iran and Hong Kong meaning some of these could be adapted for the screen.
No further information about the second season or when a follow-up may arrive is yet available. NME has reached out to FX for comment.
