Disney has announced some viewership information on its latest limited series from FX called “Shōgun“, which is based on James Clavell’s bestselling novel.

The first two episodes were released last Tuesday as part of a global streaming event across Disney’s streaming services, including Hulu, Disney+, and Star+, with the show pulling in 9 million views globally for the premiere episode, based on the first six days of streaming.

This makes “Shōgun” the number one scripted general entertainment series premiere globally.  In the United States, “Shōgun” was the No. 1 FX premiere on Hulu, just ahead of “The Bear” Season 2, thanks to a boost in viewership from Hulu on Disney+. Internationally, “Shōgun” was No. 1 across all General Entertainment series releases, ahead of the first season of the reality series, “The Kardashians”.

Hopefully, with the success of “Shōgun“, we will continue to see FX take advantage of Disney’s global streaming service for more major new releases in the future.

The series is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Producer Hiroyuki Sanada stars as “Lord Yoshii Toranaga” who 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.

“Shōgun” has been created for television by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, with Marks serving as showrunner and executive producer alongside Michaela Clavell, Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, and Kondo. Alongside Cosmo Jarvis who stars as John Blackthorne, the series features an acclaimed Japanese cast—unprecedented for a U.S. production—that includes producer Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Yoshii Toranaga, Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko, Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige, Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi, Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari, Moeka Hoshi as Usami Fuji, Tokuma Nishioka as Toda Hiromatsu, Shinnosuke Abe as Buntaro, Yuki Kura as Yoshii Nagakado, Yuka Kouri as Kiku, and Fumi Nikaido as Ochiba no Kata.

The first three episodes of Shōgun are now streaming on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ and Disney+ in Latin America, and Disney+ in all other territories. , New episodes will debut every Tuesday through April 23rd 2024.  Episodes are also being broadcast at 10 pm ET/PT on FX on Tuesdays. 

It’s great to see that this new series has captured a huge audience, and it certainly is worthy of the attention; I’m loving the show and hope even more people check it out.

Have you checked out “Shōgun” yet?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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