James Clavell’s Shogun was a big hit for FX and Hulu, yet it was billed as a limited series the entire time. It’s an adaption of a novel, and there was only so much to work with. The series told a complete story and finished it (even though the ultimate fate of some characters was left hanging, that was by design). “We took the story to the end of the book and put a period at the end of that sentence,” showrunner Justin Marks told THR earlier. “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.”
But we suppose the high ratings were just too tempting, because Hulu announced today it is renewing the previously limited series for two additional seasons, turning it into a full-fledged series. This is pretty darn dangerous. It means whoever they get to write these seasons will have no Clavell material to base it on, as the man is dead.
Shogun was first published in 1975 and was adapted into a miniseries for NBC in 1980….though it was also popular then, the network resisted the temptation. Instead they produced adaptions of Clavell’s other books, which have a similar theme of Englishmen getting wrapped up in the power struggles of the Far East. We assumed Hulu and FX would do the same.
We’ve seen what happens when Hollywood extends a book beyond what the author intended….it’s walking a tightrope. The results can be disastrous (the final season of Game of Thrones) or it can actually work (HBO’s Watchmen miniseries). We don’t know what to expect now.
Much of the same crew will be returning to try and pull this off, including Marks, co-creator Rachel Kondo, executive producer Michaela Clavell, and producer and star Hiroyuki Sanada, who was (and will still be) Lord Yoshii Toranaga. More info as we get it.
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