What to Watch ‘Shogun’ ‘Io Capitano’ ‘The Vince Staples Show’ ‘Madame Web’ ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ ‘The Taste of Things’

       U.S. World Business Arts Lifestyle Opinion Audio Games Cooking Wirecutter The Athletic

       What to Watch

       ‘Shogun’ ‘Io Capitano’ ‘The Vince Staples Show’ ‘Madame Web’ ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ ‘The Taste of Things’

       Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

       What to Watch ‘Shogun’ ‘Io Capitano’ ‘The Vince Staples Show’ ‘Madame Web’ ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ ‘The Taste of Things’

       Supported by

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       ‘Shogun’ Remake: This Time, the White Man Is Only One of the Stars

       A 1980 adaptation of the best-selling novel cast it as the tale of a white hero in an exotic Japan. A new version tells a more kaleidoscopic story.

       Share full article

       Hiroyuki Sanada, left, and Yuki Kura in “Shogun.” This new adaptation of the James Clavell novel seeks to present a range of perspectives. Credit...Katie Yu/FX

       By Motoko Rich

       Reporting from Tokyo

       Published Feb. 23, 2024Updated Feb. 25, 2024

       Gina Balian, a television executive who had worked on the hit series “Game of Thrones” for HBO, had just left to help FX start a new limited series division when an agent sent her a nearly 1,200-page novel.

       It was “Shogun,” James Clavell’s 1975 best-selling chronicle of a hardened English sailor who lands in Japan at the dawn of the 17th century looking for riches and ends up adopting the ways of the samurai. Balian’s first reaction was that she had already seen this book on television — back in 1980, when NBC had turned the novel into a mini-series that earned the network its highest Nielsen ratings to date.

       Most of what she remembered about the first adaptation was Richard Chamberlain — its white, male star. But as she started reading, she discovered the novel had a much more kaleidoscopic point of view, devoting considerable pages to getting inside the heads of the Japanese characters.

       “I thought that there was a story to be told that was much wider and deeper,” said Balian, who is co-president of FX Entertainment. It didn’t hurt that something about it also reminded her of “Game of Thrones,” in terms of the “richness of so many characters’ lives.”

       It took 11 years, two different showrunners and a major relocation to bring “Shogun” back to the screen. The 10-part series debuts on Hulu on Feb. 27 with the first two episodes, followed by new ones weekly, and will premiere on Disney+ outside of the United States and Latin America.

       Both Hollywood and Western audiences largely have moved beyond viewing the world as a playground where (mostly) white protagonists prove their mettle in exotic lands. Shows and films like “Squid Game” and “Parasite” have shown that audiences can handle Asian characters speaking their own languages.

       We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

       Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

       Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

       Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

       Already a subscriber? Log in.

       Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

       Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT