Game of Thrones director to adapt Shōgun for FX

Shōgun is a 1975 novel by author James Clavell, chronologically the first book in his six-part “Asian Saga,” a name I’m just going to leave alone. The book was adapted as a miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain in 1980 and went on to sell over 30 million copies. Now, according to Entertainment Weekly, FX is adapting it again, and they’ve tapped Game of Thrones director Tim Van Patten to helm multiple episodes.

Van Patten directed the first and second-ever episodes of Thrones, so he didn’t stick around Westeros long, but he made his time count. Novelist and screenwriter Ronan Bennett will write the FX’s adaptation. Here’s the network’s official synopsis:

"[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."

Speaking at the Television Critics Association press tour, FX called the 10-episode miniseries its biggest production to date. “The story of Shōgun has captivated audiences since James Clavell first released his epic novel more than 40 years ago,” said FX chief John Landgraf. “The themes of an outsider encountering a new culture are as relevant today.”

Okay, I guess I can’t leave it alone. Hollywood has come under fire in recent years for its depiction of Asian characters, and a story about about Japanese culture that revolves around a white guy may not be the best way to course correct. Landgraf, however, assured reporters that the new adaptation will focus on a diversity of viewpoints, rather than zeroing in on Blackthorne’s perspective, as the 1980 adaptation did:

"It’s really told from multiple points of view, not just the singular western white male point of view. It’s told from many Japanese points of view. I’m learning and understanding things about feudal Japanese culture and religion that I never knew before. We’re casting wonderful Japanese actors. If you exotics or fetishize Japanese cultures through the male gaze [that would be a problem], but I believe there’s an opportunity to tell the story of two cultures in a way that wasn’t done before."

Personally, I’m just glad that networks like FX are willing to adapt books as discrete miniseries rather than open-ended long-running epics; not all books are long enough to support a series the size of Game of Thrones.

Shōgun will premiere when it premieres. I am not a psychic.

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