Hiroyuki Sanada Offers an Update on ‘Shōgun’ Season 2’s Filming Start Find help us

Shōgun took the world by storm upon its premiere in 2024, earning rave reviews from both critics and audiences while also scoring strong viewership across the first season. Although Shōgun Season 1 adapts James Clavell‘s novel in its entirety and the creators weren’t planning on a second season, FX and Hulu were so happy with the results that Shōgun was renewed not only for Season 2 but also for Season 3. Leading star Hiroyuki Sanada recently revealed that the writer’s room was hard at work on the show, and now he’s back to deliver yet another major update. Collider’s Carly Lane recently caught up with Sanada at SCAD TVFest and asked if there was anything he could share about when cameras are expected to begin rolling on Season 2:

“Since we decided to make Season 2 and 3, we will focus on shooting this Fall. But, the script is a little pushing, so we don’t know exactly when, but we’re still trying to this fall.”

If Shōgun is able to get production up and running before the end of this year, that means the show could possibly return with Season 2 sometime before the end of 2026. However, there’s nothing more important than making sure the script is ready to go before moving into the shooting phase of a project — not only to avoid production hiccups, but also to keep the project from feeling like a rushed cash grab capitalizing on the first season’s success. Shōgun Season 1 was arguably the biggest show of 2024, and brilliant writing and performances helped it build a strong audience that stuck with the series for all 10 episodes. Fans are more than willing to be patient for a product that pays homage to what came before and also feels like a worthy follow-up, so even if Shōgun needs to push production back to 2026, the world will be waiting for its return to Hulu all the same.

‘Shōgun’ Season 2 Ventures Into Uncharted Waters

Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks adapted James Clavell’s novel fully during the first season of Shōgun, but now the series will move forward with clear and defined source material like the novel to work from. However, this doesn’t mean that the crew has nothing to base Seasons 2 and 3 on; this is still based on the Sengoku period in Japan, which can be used as a reference and inspiration for future seasons. It’s unclear which direction Marks and Kondo will take the story in going forward, but they’ve certainly earned our patience and faith as they work to bring the next chapter of Yoshii Toranaga‘s story to life.

Shōgun Season 2 plans to begin filming this fall, but it does not yet have an official release date. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates and watch Shōgun on Hulu.