Jerry London claimed the new version’s awards season success was down to a lack of competition. He continued: “It’s completely different from the one I did. Mine was based on the love story of Shogun between Blackthorne and Mariko, and this new one is based on Japanese history, and it’s more about Toranaga, who was the Shogun.
![[Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko in a scene from the 2024 version of ‘Shogun’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/09/11/15/Emmys-Preview_64231.jpg)
“It’s very technical and very difficult for an American audience to get their grips into it. I’ve talked to many people that have watched it, and they said, ‘I had to turn it off because I don’t understand it.’ So the filmmakers of the new one really didn’t care about the American audience.”.
“But the new one is funny because everybody I talked to said, ‘I don’t understand it. What’s it all about?’ I watched the whole thing. It’s very difficult to stick with. It won all the awards because there were no big shows against it. There was not too much competition.”.
London admitted he had hoped the new version might reinvigorate interest in his 1980 adaptation, which starred Richard Chamberlain in the role later taken by Cosmo Jarvis. “It was disappointing,” said London. “There wasn’t too much said about mine. Also, the new one has basically just one British actor in it, and frankly, he didn’t have the charisma that Richard Chamberlain had.”.
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