FX Orders Shōgun Limited Series Based On James Clavell Novel TCA
by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski - August 3, 2018 10:00am
FX is bringing back Shōgun to the small screen. In what the network describes as In its largest international scale production to date, it has given a 10-episode order to a limited series period drama based on James Clavells best-selling novel. The book previously spawned a miniseries on NBC, which aired over five nights in 1980, starring Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune and Yoko Shimada, earning multiple Emmys, Golden Globes and a Peabody award.
The FX series has had a blinking green light for more than seven months as the network worked on figuring out logistics for the ambitious project.
The story of Shōgun has captivated audiences since James Clavell first released his epic novel more than 40 years ago, said John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions. The themes of an outsider encountering a new culture are as relevant today as then. We are honored to bring the series to todays viewers through our partnership with executive producers Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Michael De Luca, Clavells daughter Michaela, and Eugene Kelly. We are equally thrilled that Ronan Bennett and Rachel Bennette are writing the new adaption, and that Tim Van Patten will bring his vision and expertise to directing this saga of adventure, power and loyalty that the world has come to know as Shōgun.
Set in feudal Japan, Shōgun charts the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai: John Blackthorne, a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him; Lord Toranaga, a shrewd, powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals; and Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties, who must prove her value and allegiance.
Shōgun, the novel, was published in 1975 and became a major best-seller with more than 30 million copies sold worldwide. It sparked great Western interest in Japanese culture. Building on the earlier success of Roots, Shōgun helped establish the miniseries as an ambitious new TV genre. It also became a big global hit, drawing strong audiences around the world.
Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich of DNA TV (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting), Michael De Luca (Moneyball, The Social Network), and Michaela Clavell will serve as Executive Producers along with Tim Van Patten (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, The Pacific), who will direct multiple episodes of the series, Eugene Kelly (Westworld, Leftovers, Boardwalk Empire), and Ronan Bennett (Public Enemies, Top Boy), who will write the series. Rachel Bennette (NW, Bel Ami) is also onboard as Supervising Producer. Tom Winchester from DNA TV will serve as a producer on the series. Georgina Pope (Mr. Holmes, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter) will serve as Co-Producer and Eriko Miyagawa (Silence) as Associate Producer. Shōgun will be shot in the UK and Japan and produced by FX Productions.
De Luca is represented by CAA and Tara Kohl; Clavell is represented by CAA and Jay Kramer; Bennett is represented by CAA and Charles Collier; and Van Patten and Kelly are represented by CAA.
I like that real Japanese actors played Japanese people in the original mini-series.
Too bad people don't get upset these days about how any Asian ethnicity means that they are alright to play any other Asian.
Reminds me of when Memoirs of a Geisha came out... I was like "Oh come on... have the principal leads be Japanese, at least."
That bothers me more than "whitewashing".
Tbh I am a little ambivalent to this project. On the one hand as someone who loves James Clavell's book I am intrigued by the idea of another interpretation on the screen, on the other part of me wonders (as with most remakes today) is this truly necessary since the original worked very well imo? The same voice whispers, why not instead make a 10-part miniseries of a story which also deserves to be put on screen in a quality series, and which would be treasured by millions of fans, but which has sadly been neglected for aeons, Jean M Auel's timeless 'Earth Children saga' (the story of Ayla)?
Back to Shogun though. New versions, remakes, often differ in some aspect since producers don't want to put out the exact same thing, almost as if they feel they need justification for doing the remake in the first place.. So what can they do differently this time? The trend these days is to make everything darker, more violent/bloody, possibly more psychological and - in many cases - more OTT.. so I hope they stay true to the story in this case and don't deviate too much from the book. I think the original series managed this admirably.
Actingwise, it seems an impossible task to replace the eminent Toshiro Mifune who imo personified so brilliantly the Yoshi Toranaga from the book. The original series had many great actors but he is the standout for me and the one I struggle to see how they can find a replacement for who does not feel like a letdown in comparison. Then again, the producers may have in mind a younger audience who may neither have read the huge book neither seen the series from almost 40 years ago (and who probably have no idea who Toshiro Mifune was)..
Personally, though I highly enjoyed the original series, I thought it lacked the incredible detail of the book and could have benefitted from even more storydetail included, to even better portray the Japanese political intrigue and setting (perhaps having the storyteller-voice give much more information or incorporating it into the script.) But that was because I loved the 1100-1200 pages huge book so much and enjoyed it so much for the precise reason of its huge amount of detail and intricacy, and it could be that for a non-reading audience it might become overkill. I fear though that this new version may do the opposite and give even less detail from the book and, worse, that it may deviate and include new stuff that was never in the book like we see in other work on the screen based on written work. I understand that this is sometimes necessary from a filmmaking/visual standpoint but hope in that case that it is done with style and integrity like for ex. Peter Jackson's eminent 'The Lord of the Rings' films.
I'm a big fan of the novel and thought the old television mini-series did a great job adapting it. Japanese culture has been a lifelong interest of mine, and this novel did an excellent job of explaining the mindset of the samurai to Westerners who would be reading about it in the 20th century.
However, this is another one of those properties, like the new remake of 'Papillon', where I just don't see the story appealing to the mindset of audiences today.
I'll also add that it's a pity we never got a proper 'Tai Pan' miniseries. They did such a solid job with 'Shogun' and 'Noble House' was pretty good too, so it's a shame 'Tai Pan' didn't get the same treatment.
Shogun is one of my all-time favorite novels. It's kind of funny, because I posted one of those spam lists on Facebook, where I have to post a picture of a book cover, once a day for seven days. Well, I posted Shogun. An hour later, the article got posted up about this movie.
I like the original mini-series quite a bit. I love that it was filmed in Japan, that it had some respectable Japanese actors. I also love that people spoke Japanese for fair swaths of the movie. It requires a kind of patience that modern day viewers may not adhere too kindly to. Although it didn't do so well capturing the political intrigue and deception, the romantic element of the book was spot-on. They also did well showing the differences between western culture/mentality against the backdrop of feudal Japan.
I am not opposed to a new movie being made, but I have a feeling that it will want to be more like a "Shogun-light" movie that focuses on the less intelligent and appealing parts of the novel. Like what "The Last Samurai" was - a knockoff of Shogun and Dances with Wolves. A dumbed-down version of the same story.
Anyway, it's early news and we don't know much about it yet.
I thought it was fun when I was in Hong Kong, taking a tour of the city and I was reading Tai-Pan at the time. The geography was so well explained in the book, that I recognized what was being discussed during the tour from what I was almost finished reading at the same time!
One of my favorite novels of all time. Back in high school the library had the hardcover version which was split into two volumes. They only had the first one. I read that maybe 4 times over the time I was at that school, never got to finish it until I found it in paperback at a Target the morning of a class trip out of state to an amusement park. finished the 2nd half on the school bus, there and back.
The Shogun miniseries with Mifune is a classic and untouchable. James Clavell has two novels that went unadapted, including one set in Japan. Why not adapt one of them?
Hell, why not take another run at adapting Tai-Pan, which got a feature film not a miniseries and really could have used a mini-series?
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FX's "Shōgun" - Limited Series
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