FX’s Shogun Super Bowl Trailer Released

FX’s Shogun released a Super Bowl trailer to continue building hype for the highly-anticipated limited series based on the worldwide bestselling novel by James Clavell. 

As the trailer caption reads: “Big Game Commercial. Based on the legendary novel, witness the forging of an epic empire. FX’s Shōgun premieres 2.27 on Hulu.”

“Based on James Clavell’s novel, FX’s 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.”

The Shogun Super Bowl trailer followed the modern tradition of other Super Bowl trailer premieres: showing off a shorter segment of the trailer footage while enticing viewers to go online to get the full experience. It’s a strategy in this case: Shogun released an extended trailer (2:24 in length) days before the Super Bowl. 

What Is FX’s Shogun About?

FX’s Shōgun, based on James Clavell’s bestselling novel, is set in Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. ‘Lord Yoshii Toranaga’ (Hiroyuki Sanada) 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.

Shogun will be a 10-episode series, starring Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Hiroto Kanai, Takehiro Hira, Moeka Hoshi, Tokuma Nishioka, Shinnosuke Abe, Yuki Kura and Fumi Nikaido. It was created for television by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks – with Marks serving as showrunner and executive producer. Michaela Clavell, Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Lu and Kondo all executive produce, and Hiroyuki Sanada also serves as a producer. 

Shogun will premiere on FX on February 27th.