FX Will Submit ‘Shōgun’ In Drama Category For Emmys

Now that FX has decided to make more episodes of its breakout hit Shōgun, it is changing its Emmy strategy for the James Clavell adaptation.

Deadline has learned that FX will submit the saga — which originally premiered as a limited series — in the drama category. Before, Shōgun would have competed against the likes of Under the Bridge or Apples Never Fall. Now that it’s coming back for subsequent seasons, Shōgun will face off against series like Silo, The Wheel of Time, Fallout and The Morning Show.

Today, FX announced it was renewing the Hiroyuki Sanada saga with a possible intent to squeeze two more seasons out of the global hit. A start date for production has not been set, but a writers’ room is being assembled and will begin this summer.

The show’s key creative partners — co-creators, executive producers and writers Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, EP Michaela Clavell, as well as star/producer Hiroyuki Sanada — are on board for the development.

Along with garnering strong reviews, Shōgun amassed 9M views globally across Hulu, Disney+ and Star+ in its first six days, becoming the company’s No. 1 general entertainment series internationally and the No. 1 FX premiere on the Disney streaming platforms. 

Shōgun is set 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, its English pilot, John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s own enemies — the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants. Toranaga’s and Blackthorne’s fates become inextricably tied to their translator, Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last of a disgraced line. While serving her lord amidst this fraught political landscape, Mariko must reconcile her newfound companionship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her and her duty to her late father.