Shōgun is streaming to an auspicious start. According to a report in Deadline, the launch of FX’s 10-episode series has garnered 9 million views on Hulu, Disney+, and Star+ in just its first six days.
As a result, Shōgun has become the number-one scripted series premiere for Disney General Entertainment, eclipsing The Kardashians, Season 1. It’s also number one at Hulu in the United States, nudging out The Bear, Season 2. Disney only rarely divulges streaming data, so it’s unclear how this compares to some of its earlier releases.
The first three episodes of the Edo-period drama are now streaming on Hulu and Disney+. New episodes will be available on Tuesdays through April 23. Next week’s episode “The Eightfold Fence” will be streamed on Tuesday March 12.
Based on the eponymous 1975 novel by James Clavell, Shōgun was given the go-ahead by FX’s top honcho John Landgraf in 2018. It was adapted for television by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, working with a production team that included Kondo, Michaela Clavell, Edward L. McDonnell, and Michael De Luca.
The backstory for Shōgun is described in the series’ official synopsis, which reads: “In Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war, Lord Yoshii Toranaga 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.”
The series stars Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne and Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Yoshii Toranaga. Other leading members of the mostly Japanese cast include Shimnosuke Abe, Tadanobu Asano, Takehiro Hira, Moeka Hoshi, Hiroto Kanai, Yuka Kouri, Yuki Kura, Fumi Nikaido, Tokuma Nishioka, and Anna Sawai.
The American-born Cosmo Jarvis moved to England as an infant. His other film credits include Lady Macbeth, Calm With Horses, Persuasion, and the upcoming Alto Knights. Hiroyuki Sanada appeared in several Hong Kong and Japanese action films before assuming dramatic roles in such movies as The Last Samurai, Bullet Train, and John Wick: Chapter 4.
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