Shogun Showrunner Opens Up About Adapting Another Asian Saga Book As A Miniseries

Shōgun showrunner Justin Marks has opened up about the possibility of adapting another novel from author James Clavell’s Asian Saga into another miniseries in the future. The recent historical miniseries is based on Clavell’s novel of the same name, using his story as the basis for the tale told onscreen. However, the novel is just one part of the six-book Asian Saga, a series of unconnected stories told throughout Asian history.

Speaking with Collider, Marks expressed interest in adapting the second novel in the Asian Saga, titled Tai-Pan, following the Shōgun series finale. However, the showrunner explained that it would depend on how well a miniseries adaptation would be compared to the book, and if there was any way to enhance the source material by putting its story on the small screen. Check out what Marks had to say below:

I gotta say, apropos of nothing, we are really digging Tai-Pan. It’s a great book. I picked it up to just see, “Can he strike lightning twice?” And it’s like, “Oh my god, he’s such a great writer that even this is great for entirely different reasons.” So, sure, maybe we’ll do Tai-Pan someday. It’s only a half-joke at this point, but who knows? I haven’t gotten to the end. But I think, truth be told, when it comes to Shōgun and those stories, it’s not that we wouldn’t, it’s just that if we did, it would have to be better than the book, and I don’t know if that story exists.

James Clavell’s Asian Saga Is Ripe For More Adaptations

Clavell’s Asian Saga consists of historical fiction works whose time periods stretch from the 1600s all the way up until the 1970s. Tai-Pan takes place in 1841, following the lives of European and American characters in Hong Kong after the events of the First Opium War. While this story is a far cry from the time period and story told in the existing series, its connection through the author means the story being told could be reworked into a tale for the small screen later down the road.

Given the praise for Shōgun as a miniseries, it would be unsurprising if its success led to other novels written by Clavell to get a similar treatment onscreen. While the other novels in the series don’t directly connect to one another’s stories, they do showcase real-life periods in Asian history through the lens of historical fiction. These make the tales therein historically relevant, with possible TV adaptations giving these parts of history a wider scope for a worldwide audience. If the same level of care is taken as Shōgun, these could also become highly successful.

While other novels in the Asian Saga wouldn’t directly correlate with the story of Shōgun, their own individual plots are still unique enough that they could stand on their own. However, given the level of historical research that went into making this initial miniseries, it would likely be quite some time before Tai-Pan or any other novel in the series got an adaptation. However, with this first series already proving itself popular, it might just be a matter of time before the books that follow make their way to the small screen.

Source: Collider